Reemergence
by B1ackbird
Summary: Sequel to Resurgence. With the fall of the last of Malefor's once great army, the dragons are set to enter a new golden age, led by the heroes residing at the Warfang Temple. All across the land, small pockets of survivors are leaving their hiding place and flocking to the city. But not all is well in this new age, and not all dragons have good intentions. On Hiatus, it will return
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Prologue

Suspended high in the western sky, the brilliant sun continued on its lazy journey across the heavens, raining down innumerable beams of golden light on the land below. The waving trees were bathed in the golden light, their lush and vibrant leaves shimmering and shifting in the light breeze. Ahead, there was a small mountain range, the slopes covered in a twisting maze of bright wildflowers and grass. In the other direction, the high plateaus of the Tall Plains reached up into the heavens, each platform a booming ecosystem with abundant flora and fauna. If one paid close enough attention, they might just be able to discern a thin dirt road stretching from the base of the nearest plateau and winding out into the forest. Many miles had already gone on by on the dusty road, and there were many more to go.

With a few graceful flaps of his stark white wings, the drake observed the serene landscape, taking in all the details of the blissful day. Twisting his head to and fro, the dragon scanned the few clearings he could glimpse through the trees, searching for any sign that something could be amiss. But the peace prevailed, with the only other creature the drake spotted being a flock of pitch black crows skimming over the treetops. Nodding his approval, the adult dragon tucking his wings in close to his body, making a beeline down to the road below, and the small convoy of wagons meandering along it.

A gust of sudden wind announced the dragon's arrival, the dust blowing into small eddies as the dragon folded his wings along his back, the white contrasting sharply with his dark gray scales. He had landed next to the third and final wagon, an open topped contraption guided by two oxen. Almost immediately, a mint green female dragoness walked up beside him, both of them effortlessly keeping pace with the slow moving work beasts. Her rich brown eyes scrutinized his face, scanning for any signs of distress. "Well? Did you see anything? Are we safe Theron?"

Theron half turned and smiled, draping on of this wings over the back of his mate. "Yes Visema, there's nothing out there that's going to hurt us. If I had known it was going to be this safe a trip, I would have insisted we leave months ago. It looks like it's going to be smooth sailing, at least until we run into those mountains up ahead."

The dragoness let out a sigh of relief, glancing up through the sporadic canopy to the cloudless sky above. "Thank the ancestors. We've been through quite enough war and bloodshed, I would hate to be thrown back into that all over again. Especially with her-"

"Daaaaaad, I'm boooooored." Right on cue, another gray scaled head popped up over the edge of the wagon, the dragoness resting her chin against the side of the wagon as she gazed at her parents with drooping eyelids partially obscuring her sky blue eyes. "There's nothing to do, except sit in the wagon, stare at the sky, stare at the trees, stare at the road, stare at the other wagons..."

"Your turn." Visema whispered in his ear before pulling free of his embrace, increasing her pace until she reached the second wagon. A half grin twitched at Theron's face as he glanced over toward his daughter, who was still listing all the many sources of entertainment to her disposal.

"You known Vera," Theron began, gently speaking over his daughter's monologue. "If you're so bored at watching the road, maybe you should come flying with me. You'll be able to stretch your limbs, and it certainly is a marvelous view."

Vera grumbled, turning around and bending her neck backwards across the side of the wagon so that the longer pair of her four horns lightly scrapped against the wagon's exterior. "But then I'll be bored _and_ tired. Honestly Dad, if that's the best suggestion you got, you're slipping. I mean, I'm looking forward to actually getting there, but that's still days away! If we could just fly instead of taking taking the road, we would have already arrived!"

"Now Vera," Theron began, taking on a slightly more serious tone. "The Atlawas have done everything they could to keep us safe in the Tall Plains during the war, and making sure they get there safe is the least we could do. Besides, you know full well that these-"

"These wagons are full of everything we own and everything we need to get set up again, I know I know." Vera sighed, her tail sliding idly across the floor of the wagon. "Doesn't make this go any faster though."

Looking forward again, Theron jerked his head towards the second wagon, where Visema was deeply engrossed in a conversation with the only other dragoness in the convoy. "Well, what about doing something with the twins? I'm sure they'd be more than happy to let you join."

Vera followed her father's gaze into the back of the second wagon, where two young earth dragon boys were busy wrestling across the wooden flood, oblivious to the collateral damage they were causing in the process. Vera rolled her eyes. "No offense Dad, but I think they're a bit young for me. Besides, they keep telling me that wind isn't a real element and acting like real jerks about it. I think I'll pass."

"In that case, how about doing something with the Atlawas? I hear they have a some form of board game set up in the lead wagon. You never know, you could end up enjoying it." Theron suggested, mentally resolving to have a few words with the twins when they stopped for the night.

Vera opened her mouth to respond, but before she could get any words out, a loud shriek echoed through the woods, sending the convoy screeching to a halt. Vera sat bolt upright, eyes darting side to side as she searched for the source of the disturbance. "What in the world was that? It almost sounded like someone was screaming. Do you think someone got hurt Dad? Dad?"

"Stay here Vera, I'll find out what's the matter." Theron instructed, breaking into a brisk walk as he moved up the convoy. The young dragoness looked like she was about to protest, but wisely choose to say nothing, instead resuming her scanning of the trees in search of the noise.

As he approached the second wagon, a large earth dragon crossed in front of him, nodding as Theron approached. Ulysses, the father of the twins and quite an intimidating figure. All told, there were seven dragons present in the convoy, with another eight Atlawas in tow. It wasn't a lot, but Theron had been confident that they would be able hold their own against any trouble they ran into on the road. Looks like he would soon find out it he was correct.

Ulysses paused as Theron slowed to a halt, gesturing with one of his gigantic paws out into the brightly lit forest. "So, you heard that too I'm guessing. What ever it was, it didn't sound like no wild animal." As Ulysses finished speaking, another shout echoed through the woods, slightly quieter than the first, but no less distressed. The earth dragon narrowed his eyes, squinting into the unyielding trees. "I don't like it, we should just keep moving. Feels like a trap."

"Or someone in need of help." Theron cut in, shooting Ulysses a pointed look. The two dragons were really allies by necessity only, and often didn't see eye to eye. To Theron, Ulysses was always a bit too quick to assume that a situation was going end with combat. That may have been the case a year ago, but times were changing. Theron just wished Ulysses could see that as well.

Nearby, several of the Atlawas had gathered in a rough clump, watching the two dragons decide on a course of action. A bipedal species, the Atlawas were slightly more adept at driving the caravan and performing precision tasks. But armed with only a set of wooden spears, they appeared to be differing to the dragons in this matter. Theron might be able to convince them to stay and help, but only if he could cut in before Ulysses made his argument. Well aware of the Atlawas staring at him from down their long and protruding snouts, Theron took a deep breath. "I understand your concern Ulysses, but I just can't leave someone behind like that. Just give me five minutes to check it out, you can stay with the caravan. If this is a trap, I need you to make sure everyone comes out of it alright."

Silence reigned over the stalled caravan, Ulysses considering Theron's proposal. A third yell drifted through the woods, the voice only getting fainted. Theron groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose with one clawed paw. "Two minutes, Theron, no more." Turning away, Ulysses set about organizing the Atlawas into a crude defensive perimeter. Not allowing the relief to show on his face, Theron toke his first steps toward the tree line.

"Hey, wait up!" Theron turned just in time to see Vera leap down from the wagon and skillfully weave around Vesima's protective envelope, her teal green chest scales glittering in the sunlight as she crossed the road toward him.

Theron shook his head, pointing a talon back to the wagon. "Vera, I need you to stay with your mother. We don't know if it's safe or not." A brief smile flickered across Theron's face. "But if I do need help, you'll be the first one I'll call." Vera stopped and scowled, reluctantly sitting down in the middle of the road as her mother came up behind her. After exchanging one last nod with Visema, Theron turned and strode into the woods.

It wasn't particularly hard to track the source, as the further he went from the convoy, the more he began to notice that something was amiss. It was small things mostly, a freshly broken branch, a disturbed pile of leaves. A light splatter of dark blood clinging to the underbrush. Theron pressed onward, adrenalin buzzing through his system as he drew closer and closer to the source. He just hoped he wasn't too late.

Just as Theron stepped around the trunk of a large oak tree, a blur of sudden motion and color caught his eye, and he snapped his head up in response. A ball of orange and yellow flames barreled towards, the fireball writhing and boiling with suppressed energy. Without thinking, Theron drew from his own power, an elemental energy stored deep inside every single dragon, allowing them to bend the world in marvelous ways. A split second after he noticed the fireball, Theron returned fire, exhaling a sphere of tightly compressed, nearly invisible air. The two attacks collided in midair, the fireball splitting into several tendrils of flame as the sphere of wind broke it apart. Separated and divided, the flames danced in the air for a few moments before blinking out of existence.

Theron retreated, taking cover behind the oak tree before the shooter had a chance to retaliate. Several seconds ticked past before Theron finally found his voice again. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you, alright? We're both dragons, I'm sure we can agree on that. Just let me help you."

Silence followed Theron's hail, the woods now utterly devoid of any bird songs or other animal life. Just when Theron was considering stepping back out, he heard a voice. "R-Really? You're a dragon? You're not going to hurt me?"

The voice was female, youthful from the sound of it as well. There was a slight shake in the speaker's words too, signally that she had simply fired on him out of pure fear. Fear of what though, Theron couldn't help but wonder. Taking another deep breath, Theron replied. "You have my word. I just want to help you, okay? I'm stepping back out, so don't shoot."

Moving back around the oak tree, Theron finally caught sight of the other dragon. It was a fire dragoness, as he suspected, although one who could not be more than a few years out of adolescence. She was covered in bright, fiery red scales, which when combined with her vibrantly orange chest and wings gave her the appearance of almost being ablaze herself. Two slightly curved horns pointed skyward, each point sharpened to a knife point. The dragoness was sprawled out besides a rotting log, her tail curled around her prone form, a single tail blade propped up against a nearby rock. But what drew Theron's attention first was the patch of shinning dark red splattered across the dragoness' back and rear. She was injured, and quite badly judging from the amount of blood present. She needed his help.

The dragoness' two bright orange eyes darted up and down his frame, confirming who that he was indeed another member of her species. The dragoness' shoulders visibly dropped in relief, although her eyes continued to obsessively study the surrounding area. "Oh, thank the ancestors. I'm very sorry, I just thought that you were one of them."

"That's quite alright." Theron spoke smoothly as he stepped forward, trying not to do anything that might startle the dragoness. "If I was in your state, I'm not sure I would be so quick to trust a stranger either." Theron smiled, trying his best to ease the tension. But the dragoness appeared too agitated to be placated so easily.

"Who were you worried I was anyway? The same ones that injured you?" Theron inquired, now standing before the prone dragoness. In the back of his mind, he could tell that something was very, very wrong. The sooner they returned to the convoy, the better.

"Apes!" The dragoness blurted out. "Dirty, stinking, savage apes! They attacked us, killed almost everyone else, I had to run for it. This wasn't supposed to happen, none of this was not meant to happen. Now they're all dead. They're...they're..." The dragoness seemed to be on the verge of tears, apparently remembering the attack that left her stranded. Theron forced himself to remain calm. This must have happened nearby, and not too long ago either. The convoy was in terrible danger.

"Can you stand?" Theron inquired, checking over the dragoness' body in search of the injury. But between the scales in the blood, he would have better luck trying to find a pearl in a snowdrift. The dragoness meekly shook her head, unable to speak anymore.

Theron made a decision. "Right. Let me help you up." Grabbing the dragoness' extended forepaw, Theron hoisted her up, supporting much of the dragoness' mercifully light weight. "We have to get back to the road, there's others that can help us, okay? Just walk with me, alright?"

The dragoness nodded, stumbling forward with Theron. "Thank you." She muttered, her voice already returning to normal. "Thank you so much."

Theron gasped, the air leaving his lungs as pain exploded into his chest. He could feel the blinding pain spreading outwards and inwards, crippling him utterly. Unable to remain standing, Theron tried to lean on the dragoness, despite knowing that both of them would fall as a result. What had hit him? What had pierced his chest scales and lungs with such ease? Could it be that the apes had caught up with the dragoness, intent on finishing the job?

But they didn't both fall to the ground. And no simians yelling war cries came charging out of the undergrowth. The dragoness stood, allowing Theron to slide off of her to the ground below. Theron could feel the blood trickling down his once clean chest scales, slowly pooling beneath him on the forest floor. Theron reached a paw up, expecting the dragoness to help him, but she just stared. She stared down at him, her tail flicking out behind her, spattering the leaves with drops of blood. Drops of his blood.

"You...y-you..." Theron tried to form a sentence, but was interrupted by a sudden coughing fit, each convulsion sending new flashes of pain through his body.

The dragoness bent down, placing one of her paws across his mouth. "Shhhhhhhh." She whispered, quieting him as one would a small child. "Shhhhhhh, just let it go. Let go." There was not a single trace of fear or remorse in the dragoness' orange eyes as she stared down at Theron, watching him slowly chock to death on his own blood. Theron tried to rise, but already his vision was beginning to flicker. He had to get up, he had to warn his family. He had to warn them, he had to warn...

The dragoness stood there, silently watching the dragon thrash about on the forest floor. She tilted her head, as if the sight before her was nothing more than a curious spectacle. She watched the dragon try and fight the inevitable, only for his movements to get less and less exaggerated. Finally, the dragon's eyes glazed over, and the dragoness could see a vague outline of herself still reflected in them. Turning her attention away from the now still dragon, the dragoness ran a paw down her bloodied side, wiping off some of the deer and dragon blood that coated her scales. She would have to find somewhere to wash up after this.

Leaving the still warm body behind her, the dragoness strode out into the woods. Weaving in between the final set of trees, she emerged back onto the road, carefully stepping over the charred corpse of one of the Atlawas. Raising a single paw, the dragoness clicked her talons together, instantly commanding the attention of the dozen or so dragons scattered around the convoy. Immediately, an ice dragon appeared at her side, bowing low before the dragoness. "Disciple Sidelis, everything worked out exactly as you planned."

Sidelis nodded curtly, taking in the carnage of the caravan. By the time that they had realized the incoming dragons weren't friendly, it had been too late. The ice dragon, taking her silence as a signal to continue, resumed with the report. "There were a total of six dragons, including the one you lured away. The eight Atlawas they had with them were barely any competition, and we suffered only minor injuries. I had to send Brent back to camp, but aside from that..." The ice dragon trailed off, his attention now focused on the corpses next to the second wagon. Namely, two of the smaller corpses next to the wagon.

Noticing the silence, Sidelis turned, appraising her second in command with a studious gaze. "Is something the matter, Harmon? You seem to be preoccupied."

Harmon jumped, vigorously shaking his head. "No! It's nothing Disciple Sidelis, it's just..." The ice dragon fidgeted under the dragoness' unwavering stare. "There were kids here. No too much older than hatchlings. We all followed your orders of course, but still, I mean," Harmon risked eye contact with his superior one last time. "They're just kids, you know?"

The silence was palpable as Sidelis continued to stare down Harmon, the other raiders all watching the interaction with baited breath. Just when Harmon was beginning to consider running, the silence was broken by a clear, mirthful laugh. Sidelis shook her head, still laughing. Presently, the rest of the raiders joined in, each of them forcing a laugh out as well. Or maybe a few found the twisted scenario to be genuinely funny, you could never be quite sure. "Did everyone else hear that?" Sidelis asked, still grinning ear to ear. "Harmon feels that we should have spared the children!"

Harmon gave a nervous little laugh of his own as Sidelis paced back and forth among the other raiders, drawing out new peels of merriment. Turning back to Harmon, Sidelis gave a confident smirk, slowly walking toward the ice dragon, swaying her hips to and fro as she approached. "Perhaps our dear Harmon has also forgotten the types of things I was capable of as a child, wouldn't the rest of you agree?"

The laughter dropped in volume as the other raiders nodded vigorously in agreement, even as an expression of horror dawned on Harmon's face. "N-No! Disciple Sidelis, I meant no disrespect! I meant-"

Sidelis' grin vanished replaced instead by a ferocious snarl. The dragoness lunged forward, pinning the slightly larger ice dragon to the side of the second wagon in one fell swoop. Harmon swallowed, keenly aware of the set of talons that Sidelis had pressed against the bottom of his chin. The laughter of the other raiders had cut out entirely, the other dragons closing in to form a grim semicircle around the pair of dragons. Speaking barely louder than a whisper Sidelis addressed the assembled dragons. "Or perhaps he has also forgotten that it was two small children that brought low one of the greatest warlords this world has ever seen."

Harmon gasped as the tip of one of Sidelis' claws pierced through one of the scales on his chin, letting a small trickle of blood slowly course down his neck. Twisting her head back to face him, Sidelis stared unflinchingly into Harmon's terrified eyes. "And while I am grateful to both of them for sparing this world from utter destruction, I by no means underestimate them due to their being 'Just Children'."

"But these weren't the Purple Dragon or the Terror of the Skies." Sidelis' head whipped around, focusing on the electric dragoness that dared to speak up. The dragoness in question clamped a paw over her mouth and tried to back out of the circle, only to be held in place by the neighbors on either side of her.

"You are completely correct of course." Sidelis stated matter-a-factly, her ill humor evaporating in a matter of seconds. Releasing Harmon, who desperately gasped for air and checked his wound, the fire dragoness slowly stalked over to the still forms of the two twin earth dragons. Gracefully bending down, she rolled one of the twins over, so that the dragon's vacant eyes stared up into the cloudless blue sky. With one paw, Sidelis gave a gentle caress of the face, as if she was trying to calm the frozen expression of horror on the child's face. "These are hardly what I would call warriors, and they most certainly had a long, long life ahead of them. To be sure, children having to pay for their parent's sins is the worst tragedies out there, but one that is painfully necessary." With the same paw, Sidelis closed the dragon's eyes, making it look almost for a minute as if he was merely sleeping. With the utmost care, Sidelis laid the dragon back down next to his brother, taking extra care to disturb either.

"But make no mistake." Sidelis snapped, her foul demeanor resurfacing with a touch of venom. "They may be just children, but these children just watched you murder their parents in cold blood. They will remember this day for the rest of their lives, and they will never stop trying to hunt you down. Have I made myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes Disciple Sidelis." The raiders all droned in unison, many of them also bowing their heads toward the dragoness that, for nearly all of them, was their junior by several decades.

Sidelis nodded, pleased that her message had the intended effect on her followers. "Very well. I have new orders for everyone. Harmon?"

"Yes, Disciple Sidelis?" The ice dragon asked, snapping a quick salute from his position behind the dragoness. There was still a waver in his voice, but he had managed to recover most of his composure. He lived to serve, after all.

With a sudden roar of fury, Sidelis whipped around, claws slashed out toward the ice dragon. With a cry of agony, Harmon stumbled back, clutching a paw to his right cheek, where three razor thin cuts were beginning to drip blood. Ignoring the other dragon's cries of pain, Sidelis towered over the cowering Harmon. "Return to camp and retrieve the others. We're moving out." Still gripping his injured face, Harmon gave a meek nod of acknowledgment.

"Nix," Sidelis continued, whirling about to point at another fire dragon with the same ferocity. "Gather and burn the bodies. I want nothing left but ashes." Nix bowed out of the circle, before busily setting about doing his assigned task. "As for the rest of you, I want these wagons searched, and a detailed list of everything that they were carrying. Now move it!"

With a murmuring of "Yes, Disciple Sidelis." the dragons dispersed. Dragging himself to his feet, Harmon shot one last terrified glance at Sidelis before launching off into the sky. Content that all her raiders were going to stay hard at work for the time being, Sidelis prepared to take off as well, as the blood would be a lot harder to wash off if it fully dried. But even as she spread her bright orange wings wide, something caught her eye.

Folding her wings, Sidelis strode over to the driver's bench of the second wagon, where a lonely piece of paper resolutely clung to the wooden slats. Snatching the piece of paper up, Sidelis slowly opened it and gazed upon what was written there. It was a map, a very crudely drawn map, but it was legible none the less. Most major landmarks were present, locations such as Munitions Forge or the nearby Tall Plains. As a matter a fact, there seemed to be a route that was highlighted on the map, leading from the Tall Plains to a landmark near the center of the map. Sidelis traced the route with a single bloody claw, leaving a thin line of red in her wake until she stopped at the caravan's intended destination. It was a city, with a few squat and badly drawn buildings, towered over by a temple with numerous towers and spires. Next to the city, there were three words that had been rapidly scribbled on the map.

" _Warfang: Dragon Temple._ "

 **A/N: Well, I'm back. It's been a few months, and I almost forgot how much fun it was to write. As some of you might surmise from me posting this, I am not continuing Eclipse. Too many things that needed fixing, and not nearly enough motivation to see it through to the end. So in the end, I decided to go with what I was already successful with in the past.**

 **Yes, this is the sequel to Resurgence, my first, 200k+ Spyro fanfic. So to any new readers, I would highly recommend reading that first. Trust me, my writing improves as the chapters go on. To all of you that are coming back ready for a sequel, don't worry, they'll be some familiar faces next chapter. And I'm going to tentatively adhere to a two week update schedule for the duration of the summer, but there's not guarantees past August. And as always, reviews are always welcome, but not required.**

 **B1ackbird**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Old Scars

"Spyro! Heads up!" Twisting his head towards the shout, Spyro just barely had enough time to register the small, wooden sphere flying towards his head. With a practiced ease, Spyro rotated his body to face the incoming projectile, raising himself up to balance on his hind legs for the briefest of moments. Stretching out a purple foreleg towards the ball, Spyro snapped his talons shut, the claws easily digging into the soft wood. Dropping back down on his remaining three legs, Spyro unfurled his vibrant yellow wings, his eyes locking onto his target, a gray stone hoop protruding from the far wall of the chamber, the center hole only a shade larger than the sphere he now grasped in his paw. Now all he had to do was make it there in one piece.

With a mighty push, Spyro propelled himself into the air, even as the stone floor that he had been standing on moments before exploded upwards in a cloud of dust and grit. A faint hum was the only warning Spyro had before he was targeted a second time, the smell of burnt ozone filling his nostrils as the lighting bolt arced overhead. Directing his attention briefly from his flight path, Spyro returned fire, the barrage of poorly aimed fireballs that sent Electra scrambling for cover. Out of corner of his eye, Spyro noticed Gaia lining up a shot of her own, a fist sized chunk of rock laying innocently on the ground before her. But even as she prepared to send the rock pelting towards Spyro's skull, a white blur swooped in from above, slamming into the leaf green dragoness' side with an audible crash. The two dragons tumbled away, a flurry of claws and tail swipes as they each tried to gain the upper hand.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Spyro gave one last push, the hoop hanging right in front of him. Tightening his grip on the ball, Spyro drew closer to the circular wall of the training hall, his wing tip just brushing against the stone. High above, the meticulously constructed dome formed the roof, with only a moderately sized skylight letting in some of the late autumn sunlight. Or it would be, if it hadn't been for the shadow that swept in the way, causing the training room to dim noticeably. By the time Spyro had registered the change in lighting, it was already too late. The shadow dove, effortlessly slicing through the air as it bore down towards the purple dragon below. At the very last moment, the shadow's magenta wings flared open, slowing it just enough to prevent any serious injury to the intended target. That didn't mean it wouldn't hurt though.

Spyro lurched downwards, his wings securely pinned in place by his assailant as the two of them plummeted towards the ground. The last thought Spyro had before they hit was to draw his tongue back into the recesses of his mouth, least he inadvertently slice it in half with his own teeth. They hit the ground hard, all of the air leaving Spyro's lungs in a single pained gasp, his chest and chin aching from the impact. The wooden sphere flew from his claws, a set of new gouges adorning its surface as it rolled away from the two dragons back towards the center of the arena.

To Spyro's mild surprise, the other dragon didn't give pursuit, instead choosing to employ her full body weight to keep him pinned to the ground. As Spyro desperately tried to regain his breath and overcome the disorientation of his sudden descent, the dragoness on top of him leaned down, her chest pressing against his back as she moved her head down besides his. "Well, Mr. Savior of the World, better luck next time. That is, if I ever decide to let you up again." Cynder said, allowing herself a satisfied smirk as she gazed down at the captive dragon.

Straining his neck around to lock eyes with the black scaled dragoness, Spyro managed to return the grin. "Well, as lovely as that sounds, we've still got a match to win." Spyro concentrated, feeling the stone beneath his paws as he marshaled his power reserves. With a sudden jolt, the two intertwined dragons went airborne, a solid stone pillar rising from the ground where they had been moments before.

Meanwhile, the wooden ball had rolled to a halt, temporarily forgotten as the teams engaged in numerous smaller struggles across the arena. That is, until it was nearly stepped on by a navy blue ice dragon backpedaling away from a crackling wall of electricity. Connan did a quick double take, looking from the ball at his feet to where Spyro was still wrestling to free himself from Cynder. After a quick check to make sure Electra was still on the defensive, Connan scooped the ball up with one paw, muttering under his breath as he did so. "Just give it to Spyro, he said. Spyro's the most versatile one on our team, he said. Well Zero, looks like you forgot about the fact that Spyro would much rather play with his girlfriend."

Noticing the lack of ice projectiles heading her way, Electra tentatively lowered her defensive shield, her bright yellow eyes fixating on the orb Connan was clutching close to his chest. The ice dragon wasn't looking at her, instead focused on where Cynder and Spyro were still fighting beneath one of the scoring hoops. Deciding to take advantage of the dragon's lapse in concentration, Electra charged up another lighting bolt, the energy pulsing through her body and sparking into existence off her midnight black scales. Unleashing the bolt with pinpoint accuracy, Electra started forward, anticipating what was about to happen next.

Connan let out an indignant yelp, waving his now scorched paw in the air as the sphere rolled away from him, followed a moment later by the slender electric dragoness. Gingerly setting his paw back down on the ground, Connan readied himself to chase after the orb, mentally berating himself for letting Electra get a cheap shot on him like that. She may have a head start toward regaining the orb, but Connan wasn't worried. Although neither of them were the fastest dragon in the class, it was nothing that a well placed ice patch couldn't tip in his favor.

With a dull rumble, the arena floor gave an almost imperceptible shudder as an earthen barrier sprang up in front of Connan, the ice dragon skidding to an unexpected halt. Knowing that pursuing the orb would be a grave mistake on his part, Connan slowly turned back around, allowing a disarming grin to show as he faced the dragon responsible. Gaia stood a short ways away, her legs widened out into a combat stance as she watched the ice dragon warily, waiting for him to make the first move. The white dragon she had been fighting earlier was no where to be found, although Connan couldn't help but noticing several new cuts appearing on Gaia's otherwise unmarred scales.

Making a show of readying himself for the oncoming fight, Connan called out the waiting dragoness. "Alright Gaia, I see where this is going. And since we're dating and all, I'll do you a favor and not utterly humiliate you. And I won't gloat at all when you ultimately surrender when faced with my superior skill. And I may end up giving you a share of my dessert tonight to make up for what's about to happen to you."

Gaia blinked, surprise flashing across her face as she relaxed her stance and stood up a little straighter. "You...you would give up some of your precious food for me Connan? Aw, that's so sweet of you." The earth dragoness cooed, giving Connan an affectionate smile.

"And no amount of begging will... Wait, what?" Connan stopped, cutting off his show of false bravado as he cocked his head in confusion. "Gaia, you're way more important than food, I mean, all you really have to do is ask-"

A small, three inch diameter stone pillar erupted from the ground and socked Connan in the stomach, cutting him off mid sentence. Gaia shook her head as the ice dragon doubled over in pain, a half smile still on her face as she watched him regain his breath. "Yes, that was sweet, but you really should remember to keep your guard up Connan. This is almost too easy." And with that, Gaia charged forward, rapidly closed the distance between the two, lowering her short but thick horns down for a savage headbutt.

Managing to recover in the nick of time, Connan opened his mouth, letting loose a breath of chilling mist. The mist drifted down to the floor, collecting into large ice patches before him. Rolling out of the way, Connan watched as Gaia slipped and fell, her momentum carrying her past as the blue dragon watched on. "Forget it, I take it back." Connan panted as Gaia cautiously regained her footing. "Food doesn't sucker punch me when I'm not paying attention."

Even as a fresh swarm of icicles and rocks flew across the training hall, Electra honed in on the wayward, nearly forgotten orb. In hindsight, maybe she shouldn't have blasted the sphere with quite that much energy, but at least everyone else was occupied sparing with the enemy team. Her claws scraping against the stone floor, Electra pounced, bearing down on the wooden ball as it slowly rolled to a halt before her. But even as Electra approached the ball, it gave an unexpected burst of speed, narrowly evading the dragoness' talons and resuming its journey across the training room floor.

Undeterred, Electra leaped forward again. Sure, she had never really prided herself on her physical capacity, but she should be able to outrun a measly little ball. But just like last time, the ball gave a little jump as she was about to grab it, swerving off to right and out of her immediate field of vision. Even as Electra skidded to a stop and reoriented herself to continue the pursuit, the sphere gently rolled to a halt at a pair of stark white feet.

With a practiced calm, Zero carefully picked up the sphere, holding it aloft in one of his forepaws as he stared at Electra with his usual stoic expression. Noticing Zero for the first time, Electra hesitated, warily watching the dragon before her. Zero made no effort to flee or attack, instead choosing to simply cock an eyebrow at the electric dragoness. "Well? Are you going to try and take it back from me? Or are you just going to resort to electricity again?"

So that's what he was getting at. Typical Zero, always looking for ways to improve her hunting techniques. Still, since she had kept her distance from everybody else from the start of the match, maybe it was time to switch things up a little bit. Closing the distance between them with just a few steps, Electra lashed out with a single forepaw, aimed solely at knocking the orb from Zero's grasp. The white dragon drew back, effortlessly dodging the feeble blow. Well, it wouldn't be much of a challenge with Zero just standing still, would it?

Electra pushed forward, making each succeeding swipe even quicker in an effort to catch Zero off guard. But it was all to no avail, as Zero maintained the same distance the whole time, backing up just enough to stay out of her reach. Even when Electra finally made contact, drawing blood via a shallow cut on Zero's shoulder, the white dragon gave no indication of pain or discomfort. Growing frustrated, Electra leaped forward, claws and teeth ready to bring Zero down to the ground once and for all. But Zero was already in motion, his light gray wings spread wide in attempt to steady himself as he sidestepped Electra's tackle. For one brief instant, a smile flickered across Zero's face. She really was trying her best at least. But it would take a lot more than that to knock the sphere from his grasp.

Electra still had a few tricks left at her disposal. Even as her leap carried her past Zero, her tail lashed out, the zig-zag blade connecting with a solid thunk. The fighting in the room ground to a halt as all the dragons simultaneously remembered the primary objective of this training session, their eyes all following the ball as it flew in a high arc above the center of the training hall.

"I got it! I got it!" Connan shouted, racing towards where the sphere was going to land, a single paw outstretched and ready for the catch.

"In your dreams." Gaia taunted, roughly hip checking Connan out of the way. "It's as good as mine."

Across the room, Spyro and Cynder were both airborne, nothing more than a pair of purple and black streaks speeding towards the sphere. They were neck and neck, each vying for first place. If Cynder could just get there first, it would be a straight shot to her goal ring, while Spyro would have to perform a costly U-turn to make it back across the room. But with the power of wind waiting to give her that last boost, the sphere was as good as hers.

"Coming through!" Caught off guard, Cynder just barley had time to register the crimson blur barreling towards her and Spyro. Tilting her body, Cynder angled away, narrowly avoiding a midair collision with the red interloper. His path unobstructed, the fire dragon snatched the sphere from the air, letting out a triumphant shout as he swooped over the dragons below.

"Yeah! Go Pyrus! Score one for the team!" Connan called out from below, giving a cheery wave to Pyrus as the others watched on. Continuing on unassailed, Pyrus shifted his body weight, curving around into a graceful U-turn. But as soon as his wing dipped below the figurative horizon, Pyrus wobbled, suddenly looking a lot more unsure of himself. Behind him, Pyrus' tail kicked back and forth in an effort to compensate, but the much shorter and bladeless tip just didn't have the weight that Pyrus was accustomed to. Unable to stabilize himself, Pyrus flipped over and plummeted towards the ground. With a loud bang, Pyrus' head slammed into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust as the fire dragon bounced and tumbled to a stop, the sphere still pressed tightly against his gold chest scales.

Groaning, Pyrus slowly sat up, rubbing his now aching head gingerly as his vision faded in and out of focus. Taking deep breaths to steady himself and trying not to think about his rapidly developing headache, Pyrus looked up to see a purple paw extended down towards him. Waving Spyro off, Pyrus gave himself a light shake to snap his vision back into focus to reveal a close circle of six young dragons, an Earth Guardian and a firefly all clustered around him. "What, I take one little fall and everyone has to rush over to see if I'm alright?" Pyrus scoffed.

"Well, considering that you're suppose to be relaxing over there on the bleachers with Terrador as opposed to trying to fly, yeah, we're all a little concerned." Gaia stated, watching Pyrus carefully for any signs of serious injury.

Shaking his head, Pyrus doubled over, coughing out several clots of dust that he had lodged in his lungs during his rough landing. Still coughing, Pyrus beckoned to Connan, the blue dragon looking mildly surprised at the invitation. Bending low, Connan crept forward toward Pyrus, tilting his head in curiosity. "What is it buddy? You need help getting back to the stands?"

With a devilish grin, Pyrus thrust the wooden ball forward into Connan's startled grasp. Pushing himself backwards, Pyrus uttered one word. "Run."

"Oh come on, that's not-" Whatever else Connan had to say was drowned out by the thunder crack of Electra's lightning bolt as the girls leaped back into action, taking the boys by surprise. Within a matter of seconds, the sphere was already bouncing away with Spyro and Gaia in hot pursuit as the match resumed as before, leaving only Pyrus, Terrador and Sparx in their wake.

Turning his attention away from his other students, Terrador glared down at the rebellious fire dragon. "First of all, are you alright Pyrus? Are your injuries flaring up again?"

Pyrus nodded, dragging himself back to his feet. "Yeah, I'm fine Master Terrador. I hit my head, not my chest or tail." As he spoke, Pyrus ran a paw down his front, where a sizable white scar cut across the center of his chest. A memento of the near fatal wound Pyrus had received in exchange for putting a halt to the ape warlord Drakken's plans. Since the dagger that had inflicted the wound had been made of malatrite, it wouldn't heal through the usual means of red gems, and Pyrus had nearly bled out as a result. Only through a constant appliance of a flower known as Dragon's Tear, which only grew from the buried remains of other dragons, had the wound begun to heal, although Pyrus was told he would always carry the scar. Luckily, the whole supply of malatrite was now buried under a literal mountain of rubble, unusable to anyone that meant the dragons harm.

Terrador only sighed and gestured back towards the bleachers on the other side of the room. "Still, there's absolutely no reason to tempt fate. You should know better than to try and join in until Volteer gives the all clear. Maybe I should revoke your request to sit in while the others train."

"It's been what, a whole month already?" Pyrus scowled up at the Earth Guardian. "Look at Spyro! He's nearly died too and he's already been back in training for the past two weeks. I can take it, you know I can."

"Pyrus..." Terrador's eyes bored into Pyrus, his voice taking on an authoritative edge. Realizing that this was not a fight that he could win, Pyrus lowered his gaze, silently forfeiting the argument. Terrador turned, slowly making his way back along the outer wall towards the wooden stands, leaving Pyrus and Sparx to meekly follow behind in his wake.

With a distinctive hum, Sparx darted down so that he was hovering before Pyrus, folding his arms across his diminutive chest as he cleared his throat. "You know, maybe if you didn't bug the Guardians every ten minutes, they might actually let you back in." Pyrus narrowed his eyes at the dragonfly, pausing only long enough to exhale a small puff of black smoke that completely enveloped Sparx. Coughing and retching, Sparx flitted out of the smoke cloud, shooting a reproachful glance back over his shoulder at the red dragon. "Gee, try to give a guy a little advice, and that's what I get for it? Kids these day just have no respect..."

But Pyrus could care less about what Sparx thought about him. Still fuming, Pyrus flopped back down on the bleachers, staring back out into the arena with unfocused eyes. He lay there, watching his friends run back and forth, either struggling to subdue one another or in close pursuit of the elusive orb. Despite the competitive atmosphere, they were having fun, often trading snippets of conversations in between blows. He knew they were all concerned for him, and almost unanimously agreed with the Guardians in respect to his "relaxation", but it still didn't alleviate the isolation he felt from them. If only it could go back to the way it was before.

Lifting his head up and craning his neck around, Pyrus gazed back at his tail, the appendage still swaddled in layers of white bandages. Although it was the chest wound that nearly killed him, it was the tail that was the source of all his problems. The entire back half of it, including his once signature trident tail blade, were gone. Buried somewhere deep inside the Mountain of Malefor. On the surface, it seemed a relatively minor issue, one that only deprived Pyrus of a way to stab opponents in combat. That is, if a dragon's tail wasn't so critical to balancing out the rest of the body. It had taken Pyrus a few days to remaster walking with the new weight distribution, but flying was another matter all together.

After one particularly ill advised experiment involving one of the Dragon Temple's many towers, Pyrus had discovered that he could still somewhat control himself in the air. In other words, he could still slow a descent by enough so that his worst injuries would only be bumps and scrapes upon landing. But remaining steady enough to hover, let alone gain altitude was a struggle that left Pyrus all but grounded. And of course, there was practically no way he could perform any of the flips, rolls and spins that he had spent so many hours perfecting. Without being able to do any of the more complex maneuvers, Pyrus was having a hard time justifying spending the effort to master the basic moves he was reduced to.

A great cheer went up as Zero made a desperate interception and managed to work his way back across the training hall and finally made a goal. Sitting up, Pyrus forced a smile on his face as Connan paraded around in a victory lap, holding the scratched and worn ball aloft for all to see. On his right, Pyrus saw Terrador look up briefly from a set of scrolls to give an approving nod to the young dragons before returning to his work. As the dragons reset for another round, Pyrus spared a glance over towards the Earth Guardian. Usually, which ever Guardian volunteered to supervise training paid attention to them the whole time, often chiming in with tips or suggestions for bettering their abilities. But ever since they got back from lunch, Terrador had been engrossed in the reports handed to him by one of the city guards. If Pyrus still hadn't been sore over his exclusion from training, he might of inquired further. But he was unlikely to get very far in any case, he wasn't really considered one of the Guardian's confidants. It was probably boring anyways.

Much later, and after everyone else had been thoroughly covered in numerous small injuries, Terrador finally closed down the day's training. Final score: Girls 4, Boys 5. After receiving their fair share of red and green restorative gems, the dragons headed out into the temple, the white marble corridors clicking against their claws as they headed towards the dining hall. Pyrus trailed behind the others, smiling and nodding along as they relived the highlights from that afternoon's session. Spyro and Cynder lead the group, both of them constantly turning their heads back to join in the conversation, although this sometimes lead to difficulties considering how close to each other they were walking. Close behind were Electra and Zero, neither dragon contributing much apart from a correction of any details the others missed. Just ahead of Pyrus were Gaia and Connan, and while they were the most talkative, they also seemed to be in the middle of a heated argument. Something about Connan promising Gaia his dessert if Pyrus was reading into it correctly. And of course, Spyro's brother Sparx still hung over the group, the dragonfly poking fun at everybody and trading jabs with Connan.

It wasn't exactly a stretch to see why Pyrus had felt more and more out of the loop lately. Of course the others still made every effort to hang out with him, especially considering that his injuries were effectively trapping him at the temple, but that wasn't it. Spyro and Cynder together made one of the best matched couples, or worst if you asked some of the more bitter dragonesses down in the city. Although still somewhat shy with showing their affections, everyone could plainly see the love that they held for one another. Gaia and Connan had been dating the past few weeks as well, although you would be hard pressed to see much difference from the friendship that they had beforehand apart from a preference to spend more evenings in privacy. And Electra and Zero had even managed to form a sturdy friendship, and it wasn't uncommon for both of them to leave the city for extended periods of time on days off or in the twilight hours. Seeing Spyro and Cynder so close to each other, enjoying their mutual company, it always caused Pyrus to draw the same conclusion. It wasn't that he regretted what he had had to sacrifice to stop Drakken, it was just that he wished there had been another way.

Of course, Pyrus wasn't jealous in the slightest at seeing all the couples, not at all. He was happy for them, and it wasn't threatening to split the group of friends up anytime soon. As a matter of fact, Pyrus had no reason at all to feel jealous, as he just so happened to have a girlfriend of his own. Or at least, he had thought he did.

Crystal Develia, both one of the most beautiful and one of the most infuriating dragonesses Pyrus had ever had the privilege of encountering. Having met repeatedly by unfortunate circumstance again and again, Pyrus had finally managed to make an impression on her, culminating in him managing to save her life during an ape assault on the temple. A week later, during the gala held at the temple to commemorate the final end to hostilities, they had met up again and for once actually had an enjoyable night together. And that was the last Pyrus had seen of her. Not a single message, visit, or other indication that she remembered he even existed. Just perfect.

Turning right along the corridor, Pyrus gazed outside the rows of tall windows and out across the city. From their perch on a floating island torn from the center of Warfang, the dragon temple was one of the most dominating features of the landscape, and an excellent vantage point over the whole city. Crystal was down there, somewhere, although Pyrus had already tried and failed to make contact himself. Normally, it would have been an extraordinarily simple matter for Pyrus to leap from one of the windows and dive down to Crystal's house, but again, he was grounded. But that hadn't stopped him once the Guardians had finally granted him leave to head down to the city to see if he could find Crystal himself. There were elevators to and from the temple that he still could use, but it meant navigating the city by foot, something that Pyrus was unaccustomed too. After a lot of asking for directions and getting lost, Pyrus had finally managed to find the neighborhood that he knew Crystal's house to reside in. After all that effort, and he had to eventually conceited defeat to a ten-foot gate that separated Crystal's neighborhood from the "commoners." Not that Pyrus had much of a plan for finding a way to sneak past Crystal's parents anyways. That wasn't an encounter he was looking forward to in the least.

"Hey Pyrus, that was some impressive flying back there." Blinking in surprise, Pyrus switched his attention away from the window, noticing for the first time that Gaia and Connan had slowed down to join up with him, each taking up positions on either side of him. The other four had continued on without them, hunger driving them onwards toward where diner awaited.

Realizing that Gaia was still waiting for his response, Pyrus flashed a half smile. "Not really, considering that I wasn't able to do a simple U-turn without plowing face first into the ground."

Connan snickered. "Yeah, that was pretty funny." On his left, Pyrus caught Gaia shooting Connan a pointed look, causing the ice dragon to quickly backtrack. "Er, what I meant to say was that considering your injuries, that was still pretty amazing. It's good to see you back in the air buddy."

"Yeah, cheer up would you." Gaia cut in, lightly punching Pyrus on the shoulder. "Terrador may have been mad at you for jumping in like that, but I think it was a good thing. It showed everybody how far you have come along the road to recovery, and how unfair it is the Guardians keep sending you to the sidelines." Gaia paused, an idea popping into her head. "As a matter a fact, we'll go and talk to them tomorrow. Probably won't get you back into training, but I might talk them down to let you get some flying practice. How's that sound?"

Pyrus sucked in a deep breath, his nostrils flaring wide as he suppressed the fresh wave of envy that welled up inside of him. Forcing himself to smile yet again, Pyrus gave a curt nod to the earth dragoness. "That sounds great Gaia. Even if it's just flying, I would love to be doing something other than lounging around watching you guys tear at each other."

"There's the Pyrus I know." Connan declared, draping a foreleg around Pyrus dramatically. "We'll have you back up in tip-top shape before you know it."

"Ah, young dragons, hold a moment." As Connan released his hold on Pyrus, the dragons turned around to see an adult electric dragon hurrying towards them, his rich yellow scales coated in an almost imperceptible layer of dust. Volteer slowed to a stop before them, his eyes quickly taking in the identity of the dragon's before him. "Oh, Pyrus, how fortunate. Are you experiencing any pain, discomfort, nausea, dizziness, headaches, indigestion-"

"Nothing more than the usual aches." Pyrus cut the Electric Guardian off before he could list off all seventy or so symptoms Volteer always inquired about when ever Pyrus checked in. Although the Guardian meant well, his rapid fire speech and excessive vocabulary could be exhausting to sit through, especially when Pyrus already knew the answer to the question. Although, maybe Pyrus had been a bit too brief. "Well there is a slight headache, but it's not related to my injuries, I guarantee it. I should be fine without any medication tonight."

"Good, good." Volteer nodded energetically. "That is stupendous news Pyrus, you are making a remarkable resurgence after being brought to the brink of oblivion. Now, have either of you three seen Terrador? He was the one supervising the training today. Or, was it yesterday?" Volteer trailed off, looking suddenly contemplative as he pondered the day's date.

"He was at training with us." Gaia frowned, trying to recount the past ten minutes in her mind's eye. "But he left before we did. And he didn't take the door that leads directly back to Guardian's quarters."

"Oh how inopportune, unbecoming and lamentable. In that case I am most certainly late, and this was so crucial that all of us were there. I thought those feckless reports said half past six, not six on the dot. You three run along to dinner now, I must be off." Volteer called over his shoulder, hurrying down the corridor and vanishing around the corner with a flick of his tail, leaving the three young dragons standing in the otherwise empty corridor.

"Ok, have fun." Connan called after the Electric Guardian, his words echoing down the temple halls.

Gaia scratched her chin, obviously just as perplexed as Pyrus over Volteer's rapid appearance and departure. "What do you guys think that was about?"

"Well, let's stop wondering and find out." Gaia and Connan turned, both of them staring at Pyrus with an incredulous expression. Pyrus shrugged in response. "I don't know about you guys, but I need something to brighten up this day. And besides, it was more of a suggestion to go to dinner rather than an order."

Connan hesitated, weighing his curiosity against his appetite. After a sidelong glance at Gaia, he sighed and nodded. "Sure, why not? But mark my words, if this turns out to be some boring old diplomatic meeting, I am leaving both of you behind, there's no way I'm missing the roast pig they're serving tonight."

Less than a minute later, the trio of dragons were pushing there way outside into the courtyard. Enclosed by two stories of temple on three sides and a sturdy marble wall on the forth, the courtyard had always served as the main entrance to the temple. Each of the four corners were decorated with a freshly transplanted maple tree, while thin blades of grass vainly tried to take hold in the central yard, all in a vain attempt to disguise the destruction that had torn through here on two separate occasions. The first being a mercifully bloodless explosion of convexity, the second soaking the soil with pools of blood. Pyrus shivered as a cool wind gusted through the courtyard, the sun having already dipped down below the roof of the enclosing temple. Winter was coming, and according to all indications, it was going to be a cold one.

The courtyard was by no means empty, as several adult dragon stood near the gate in the far wall. Not wanting to be in the way, but still curious as to what was going on, Pyrus quietly shuffled over to sit at the base of one of the maple trees, where he was joined by Gaia and Connan. Having successfully situated themselves out of the way of the proceedings, the young dragons quickly focused on what was going on. Standing with their backs to them were all three Guardians, Volteer having apparently managed to make it just in time. Just inside the gate were two Warfang dragon guards, each decked out in the gleaming gold armor of the city. The guards were in the middle of speaking with the Guardians, obviously conveying some information of great importance. While Pyrus was curious as to what was being said, he was not about to risk earning the Guardian's wrath.

There was a light tap on Pyrus' shoulder, startling him out of his revelry. It was Connan, silently pointed across the courtyard to another maple tree. There, sitting patiently under the tree's wide branches was Zero, the white dragon watching the proceedings with an intense stare. Upon noticing Connan's enthusiastic waving, Zero stood, striding across the courtyard to join them under their tree. As Zero sat back down a few feet away from the group, Pyrus dragged his gaze from the Guardians long enough to watch Zero out of the corner of his eyes. "Hey, what are you doing here anyways? Shouldn't you be at dinner with the others?"

Zero shrugged. "Cyril came to the dining hall looking for Volteer. I was curious." Pyrus grunted and switched his attention back to the group of dragons before them. While Zero was more likely to express something resembling emotion these days, all too often he reverted to his usual ways of giving only the barest minimum to get the job done.

"Shhh, something's happening." Gaia announced, waving a paw in Pyrus and Zero's general direction. Sure enough, the adults seemed to be wrapping up their meeting, with Terrador making a show of emphasizing his final few points with a raised fist. The Warfang guards bowed their head and turned to leave, the sound of their clinking armor carrying across the still courtyard. But as they left, Pyrus realized that there had been a sixth member to the meeting. It was a young dragon, previously obscured by the Warfang guards and bundled in an oversized blanket that obscured most of their form. With the guards gone, the Guardian's themselves relaxed, Volteer gently bending down to say something to the bundled figure. A meek nod was the only answer that Volteer received, but it was all that he apparently needed, as he patted the young dragon on the back a few times before turning and making his way back towards the temple, the blanket and the other Guardians close behind.

Standing up suddenly, Gaia left the shade of the maple tree, making a beeline right for the cloaked figure. "Hey! How are you-" Noticing her, Terrador held up a paw and gave a stern shake of the head. "...doing." Gaia finished, coming to a halt as the rest of her words died in her throat. The bundled dragon didn't turn to acknowledge her, instead doggedly following Volteer onward into the temple, a dark scaled tail dragging in the grass behind them.

The door snapped closed behind the mystery dragon as Pyrus, Connan and Zero joined Gaia while Terrador and Cyril looked on. Finding her voice, Gaia looked back up to the Guardians. "Who...who was that?"

Cyril sighed loudly, shaking his head wearily. "A young wind dragoness by the name of Vera. She will be staying with us for the foreseeable future. The poor dear just lost her entire family. She'd be dead if a patrol of cheetahs hadn't found her and brought her to the city. Terrible business, just terrible."

"Oh." Gaia's shoulders visibly drooped as she stared at the door Vera had gone through. "I'm so sorry, I... I had no idea."

"It's alright." Terrador said, smiling down at the earth dragoness. "I'm sure you'll meet her soon enough. Just do us a favor and wait until she's ready to come out on her own." Gaia nodded obediently, still fixated on the closed temple door.

"Hold on a minute." Connan cleared his throat, pointing to the two Guardians. " _ _Just__ lost her family? I thought the war was all over, as in it was suppose to be calm and peaceful. What gives?"

Terrador's eyes met Cyril's for a split second, giving just a slight hesitation before answering. "It's grublins, I'm afraid." Cyril stated, calmly replying to Connan's inquiry. "It appears that there's at least one band in the south that hasn't been rooted up yet. But don't worry, we've already made preparations to send a Warfang battalion to put them down."

"Well if they need any help," Gaia turned back to the Guardian's, eyes suddenly ablaze with fury. "I'd be for than happy to tear a few grublin throats out."

Terrador let out a short, humorless laugh. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Now, run along to dinner, and be sure to welcome Vera when she feels up to joining us. I expect to see you all again bright and early tomorrow morning." Giving one last nod to the young dragons, Terrador and Cyril turned and headed back into the temple, the door slamming shut behind them.

"That's just so tragic to lose your family now of all times. Come on you guys, nothing more to see out here." Gaia rustled her wings and started the slow trudge back to the door closest to the dinning hall, Connan jogging over to comfort her.

Pyrus was about to follow when Zero spoke up. "You noticed it too." Perplexed, Pyrus turned to face Zero, the white dragon's piercing blue eyes staring at him unflinchingly.

Pyrus nodded, biting the inside of his cheek apprehensively. "Yeah, they hesitated before telling us about the grublins. There's something they left out, isn't there?" Zero nodded glumly, stroking his chin with a one forepaw. Pyrus snorted, his talons involuntarily digging into the loose soil beneath him. "What's the matter, huh? Don't they trust us?"

"Trust likely has nothing to with it. Think." Zero interjected, placing his paw back down on the ground. "We both know how dramatic it is to lose a family like that. It's not the Guardian's story to tell, it's Vera's. I personally would take great offense to one of you going down to the city to talk about my past."

Pyrus rubbed his snout, squeezing his eyes shut as he considered Zero's words. "You're right, I guess I'm just a bit wound up today." Before Pyrus' injuries, he and Zero had held a long standing rivalry. It seemed that they were evenly matched in every single sparing match, and Zero's lack of forthcoming about his past or motivations had been a sure way to earn Pyrus' mistrust. Although Pyrus was prepared to trust Zero now, it was clear that they would never be the best of friends. And that was perfectly fine by Pyrus.

"There is another possibility." Zero began, choosing his words carefully. If there was one thing Zero could do better than anyone else, it was dissecting a situation to find the most logical course of action. "I don't know about you, but I have my doubts that a band of grublins large enough to overwhelm an entire family of dragons and yet leave a child completely unharmed. Assuming that such a force has been smart enough to avoid contact completely from Malefor's downfall to now, which I heavily doubt."

"Meaning?" Pyrus tapped his claws impatiently, waiting for Zero to hurry up and get to the point.

"Meaning that this was not the work of grublins." Zero finished. "and if that's the case, I suspect it will only be a matter of time before we're all involved as well."

Pyrus' brow furrowed as he considered Zero's words. "So you're saying this is like another rouge ape army? And if so, then why wouldn't the Guardian's tell us?"

"Perhaps they merely wish to give us a few more worry free days before we head out to fight and kill yet again." Zero mused. "Or maybe they simply wished to avoid discussing such plans in your presence, since you will not be able to accompany us."

Pyrus scowled. "You know, right up until that last comment, I was glad that you were taking the time to explain this to the cripple."

Another breeze whispered through the courtyard, exasperating the chilly silence that settled over the two dragons. After a moment, Zero inclined his head towards Pyrus. "I apologize, it was not my intent to offend you. And you should not refer to yourself as such, I am sure you are just as competent on the ground as always."

"Are you two still out here?" The door to the courtyard creaked open, and Connan's annoyed head popped out to stare reproachfully at the dragons. "Get a move on, the food's getting cold."

"We certainly won't want that, now would we?" Zero muttered as he turned towards the door. Pyrus said nothing, taking the opportunity to gaze up the wide open sky. Among the clouds streaks with splashes of orange and yellow from the steadily sinking sun, a small formation of birds glided overhead. A black V pointing due south as they migrated away for the winter. Pyrus watched them until they slid from sight behind the temple wall. Turning away, Pyrus walked back into the temple.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – New Arrivals

"Let me see, fire, earth, ice, fire, fire again, two electric, another fire, an earth dragon, and is that a poison dragon sitting over there? You don't see too many of those, the war was not kind to them. But," Connan sighed, lightly dropping back down onto the bench besides Gaia. "No wind dragonesses to be found." Gaia frowned, drumming her claws against the table as her gaze swept around the crowded dinning hall, confirming what Connan's brief recon had already turned up. Not a single light gray scale of young wind dragoness that had arrived last night could be seen.

Across from them, Electra swallowed a mouthful of food and cleared her throat. "I can't say I'm too surprised. She just lost her mother and father, right? I don't think she'll be out here socializing anytime soon." Further down the table, Cynder and Spyro gave short nods of agreement.

"I know, I know, it's just, well," Gaia paused, organizing her thoughts into carefully arranged sentences before continuing. "You still need to eat breakfast. I was just looking out for her in case she was getting overwhelmed by the crowd. She shouldn't be sitting alone, especially if she's going to join our training sessions eventually."

"Your heart's in the right place Gaia, but I won't worry about it." Pyrus spoke up from the other side of Connan, leaning forward to peer at her from around the ice dragon. "I don't think the Guardians would just throw her in a room and leave her there to rot. I'm sure she's got the best room service the temple has to offer."

"I guess you're right." Gaia returned her attention to her half eaten plate of food. "And before anyone says anything, I know Terrador told us to leave her alone for now, but stuff like this is really rough to go through alone. I just want to help, that's all."

The rest of the dragons bowed their heads, the mood suddenly solemn. All of them had lost family at one point or another, and each could recall with excruciating clarity the first few weeks after such a profound loss. For Spyro and Cynder, it was a muted kind of pain, as neither had ever met their biological parents. Yet for Spyro at least, there was at least another figure to mourn in their place. The previous fire guardian, Ignitus, had given his life to ensure Malefor's downfall, and to save Spyro and Cynder's lives as well. It was a noble sacrifice, and one that would not be soon forgotten.

With a booming ring, the temple bells rang out into the brisk fall air, signaling the end of breakfast. Rising from their seats, the group made to gather their empty dishes and glasses, but Gaia waved them off. "You guys hurry along without me, I'll take care of all of this." There was some reluctance at first, with both Electra and Connan stepping in to try and help Gaia manage the rather formidable load. But in the end, Gaia was resolute, and the others eventually shrugged and left, leaving the earth dragoness to her task.

As the dining hall door swung closed behind the young dragons, Gaia set about stacking all the left over dishes. Clutching the stack close to her chest with a single forepaw, Gaia hobbled along towards the dish repository, taking care to keep her distance from many of the other diners. A while back, an unfortunate experiment with Spyro's convexity abilities had led to the temple's official opening to the public, with only bedrooms and the training hall remaining as private sectors. It had been complete and utter chaos as Gaia remembered, with dragons from all over the city packing the hallways in the hope of meeting the reclusive purple dragon that had saved them all. Even after the temple was attacked, the declaration still stood, although there were quite a few more guards stationed up at the temple these days. Not that they were ever needed, as much of the hype surrounding Spyro had finally died off. There would always be a gaggle of obsessed dragonesses out to steal Spyro's heart of course, but as he always was accompanied by someone else, they kept their distance.

As Gaia slid the dishes on the counter, a melancholy feeling washed over her. Before Connan, she had been dating a fire dragon by the name of Malrick, who one could be fooled into mistaking for a well composed and mild mannered gentlemen. It was an error that Gaia suspected might have cost her a lot more than her friends here at the temple. But at the same time, did Malrick really deserve to die during the temple attack? Yes, he was a domineering control freak and a borderline psychopath, but did that really condemn him to such a fate? Gaia didn't have an answer, and she doubted that she ever would.

Pushing those thoughts from her mind, Gaia quickly strode across the room, scooping up a clean plate and piling it high with scrumptious food. With a cheery wave of thanks to the dedicated kitchen staff, Gaia finally exited the dining hall, once again using only three of her legs as she wound her way through the temple corridors. Knowing that she was already late for training, Gaia doubled her pace, turning a corner and entering the girl's dormitories. Stopping midway down the corridor, Gaia gently laid the plate down and lightly knocked on the sturdy wooden door before her. "Hello? Vera? Are you in there?"

Silence. Gaia stepped back, double checking to make sure that she was at the right room. She had taken a good look around when she had returned from dinner last night, and had identified the room she believed Vera to now be inhabiting. It hadn't been particularly hard to figure out, as this was the only vacant room that now appeared to be locked. And if Vera wasn't here, then the only other place she might be was in the Guardian's quarters, which would make sense if they wanted to keep an eye on her.

"I brought you some food." Gaia tried again, still speaking to the closed door. "The chefs here are really good, I'm sure you'll like it. You don't even have to talk to me if you don't want to, I will totally understand."

Still nothing. Knowing that she really had to start heading to the training hall, Gaia made one last attempt. "Listen, Vera, I really don't mean to intrude at all here. I just know from experience that if all you do is shut yourself inside a room and dwell on what happened, it won't end well." Gaia sighed and rubbed the back of her head. This wasn't going at all like she had hoped for. "Anyways, my name's Gaia, and if you ever want to come out and talk about it, my door's just two down on the left, and it's always open. Same goes for everyone else here at the temple, we just want to help. And... I'm sorry about what happened to you. The Guardians will get to the bottom of it, I promise."

With nothing else to say, Gaia slowly turned and left, tail limply dragging along behind her. Exiting the dormitories, Gaia could only shake her head. Cyril was right, this was terrible business indeed.

Back in the now deserted dormitories, there was a soft creak as the door to one of the rooms drifted ajar, a single bloodshot eye squinting down the corridor. After a pause, the door opened a little wider and light gray paw carefully stretched out towards the offered plate of food. Pulling the plate inside, the door slid back into its frame with a soft click.

_/*\\_

"Excellent work there Spyro. With just a few more years of training, I'm sure you'll be close to complete mastery of the earth element." Terrador gave an approving nod, surveying the random scattering of precarious ledges and rocks that was once the training hall floor. It was almost to the point that there were no flat spots left. As for the legion of training dummies that had occupied the space only a few minutes prior, a slew of splintered wood and loose hay stuffing was all that remained.

Standing in the center of the devastation, Spyro collected himself for a few moments before turning back towards the stands where Terrador and the rest of the class were patiently sitting. "Thank you Master Terrador, but I think it might take a bit longer than that. Considering that I have to balance mastering the other three elements after all."

Terrador's lips twitched into a brief smile. "You'll manage Spyro. Same goes for the rest of you, as I can quite safely say that none of you would still be alive if you didn't show tremendous promise in your respective elements. Come on back Spyro, I think that's enough training for today."

With groans of general exhaustion, the others stood up as well, stretching out their aching limbs as Terrador went to work restoring the training hall to its original state. Stopping next to the bleachers, Spyro dipped one of his paws into the crate of pulsating green gems they always kept on hand. The gems touching his paw began to shimmer and shrink, the waves of green energy diving into his scales and becoming one with his being. With some of his stamina renewed, Spyro glanced up to see Gaia looking down at him from one of the upper rows of bleachers. "You know," she began, briefly looking up to survey the still partially torn up arena. "If you really want to improve your earth moving abilities, you should spar with me sometime, earth only. Who knows? Maybe I'll even be able to give the great and powerful purple savior some pointers."

Spyro chuckled. "If I can't use any of my other elements, I have no doubt you'll beat me quite quickly. But I'll be sure to take you up on the offer, it's not like I stand to lose anything by it, right?"

"Apart from a little dignity, no." Gaia playfully chided. Lightly hopping down from stands, she snatched a green gem from the crate, the crystal cracking in her claws as she absorbed the energy.

"So anyways," Spyro spoke, quickly changing the subject. "How did delivering a plate of food to Vera go this morning?"

Gaia froze, mild shock passing over her face as she cocked her head at Spyro. "What? Wait, how on earth did you find out about that?"

Spyro shrugged. "After we left the dinning hall, Electra began fretting about the exact same thing, until Zero pointed out that was most likely why you offered to stay behind. And before you ask, we didn't breath a word to the Guardians, or more accurately, to Terrador."

Gaia pouted, glaring across the room to where Zero was standing in between Electra and Connan. "Curses, foiled by Zero and his logical deductions yet again. As for how it went, that all depends on your interpenetration of what deafening silence and no signs of movement means."

With one last grind of stone against stone, the last of the earth pillars sank back into the arena floor, followed closely by Terrador turning and heading toward the doors that lead to the rest of the temple, as opposed to the ones that lead directly back to the Guardian's quarters. Still walking in step with Gaia, Spyro took his place at the back of the group of young dragons as they too headed towards the door. Keenly aware of the Earth Guardian just a short ways behind them, Spyro made sure to keep his voice to a whisper as he responded to Gaia's last statement. "Nothing at all? I know we can't expect too much right now, but it sounds like she's in a really bad place."

They stepped outside into the white marble corridor, a cool breeze instantly bringing a chill to all the non-fire dragons present. Opposite the door, two adult fire dragons were casually leaning up against the wall, conversing in low tones. Noticing the group exiting the training hall, the fire dragons hesitated before reluctantly departing down the temple corridor. Spyro paused, watching them go. It wasn't an uncommon sight to see a small group of dragons hanging around the training or dining halls, only to quickly leave whenever he showed up. But the unusual thing was that last pair didn't seem to be overly focused on him, and Spyro had the sudden suspicion that they were not on any idle sightseeing tour.

But even as Spyro opened his mouth to call the irregularity to the attention of the group, a loud shout echoed down the corridor, followed almost immediately by a bellowing laugh. "Do my eyes deceive me? Terrador, you great old fart, is that you?"

Upon hearing the stern Earth Guardian referred to as an old fart so casually, Connan burst out into peels of laughter, even as the rest of the group blinked in surprise. Swiveling his head around, Spyro caught the first glimpse of the brazen newcomer. It was an adult dragon, his dark crimson scales standing out in stark contrast to the temple corridor. His chest and wings were both adorned with a set of ash colored scales, while two sturdy black horns bend backward into a sort of half loop. Behind him, a solid mace of a tail blade swung to and fro as the dragon strode toward the group, beaming ear to ear, his energetic blue eyes taking in the dragons before him. "Oh I recognize that scowl alright, it is you Terrador. What, afraid to give a simple hello?"

To Spyro's right, Connan was finally getting his fits of laughter under control, something which was helped along by the stern gazes shot his way by both Gaia and Zero. But Spyro's attention was primary focused on Terrador, wondering how the Earth Guardian would respond. Although he hadn't been nearly as amused as Connan had been, the friendly and bravado attitude the other dragon was putting out was confusing to say the least. Spyro had never given much thought to the possible social lives of the Guardians. As a matter of a fact, it seemed like the only ones that the Guardians held casual conversations with were himself and the other students. Ignitus most of all, back when he was still alive.

Terrador increased the intensity of his scowl, causing the other dragon to slow to a halt a short ways away from the Guardian, waiting patiently for a response. "I am the Earth Guardian, and one of the foremost leaders of our race." Terrador growled. "I believe that entitles me to some measure of respect from dragons like you."

The newcomer rolled his eyes, an exasperated sigh leaving his imposingly large chest. "Ah yes, just give me a moment to practice my curtsy. And by the way," the dragon smirked, jabbing a claw in Terrador's direction. "I know I may be a few decades late, but congrats on the position. For me at least, there was never any doubt that it would be you."

Terrador took several menacing steps froward, and the young dragons quickly scurried out of the way. "You vanish in the middle of the night, never send anyone any sorts of messages to explain where you went, insult the very hospitality of the previous Guardians, and now you show up out of the blue once the war's over, expecting me to just greet you with a welcoming smile and a hardy salute?"

Terrador stopped, mere feet from the strange dragon. Silence reined in the corridor as the two adult dragons sized each other up, the newcomer able to maintain eye contact with Terrador without having to tilt his head, a feat few could attest to. Spyro fidgeted, trying to gauge the situation. Was this new dragon a friend or a foe?

To his right, Gaia still stood, watching the confrontation unfold with a peculiar half smile. Noticing his discomfort, she only shook her head. "It's fine guys, just give it another minute." She spoke in a whisper loud enough to just barely be heard by the group of young dragons.

Terrador took a final step forward, and raised a clawed forepaw towards the other dragon. With a hardy thump, he placed it on the other dragon's shoulder. His usual stoic expression replaced by a roguish grin, Terrador nodded at the other dragon, the former tension evaporating in a matter of moments. "Impirius, it's great to see you again after all these years. It's good to see that you made it through the war in one piece."

"There we go, it just took a bit of digging, didn't it." Impirius replied, in turn placing one of his paws of Terrador's shoulders as well. "But you don't have to sound so surprised that I survived. I was one of the top fire dragons in the class after all." Releasing their holds on each other, Impirius glanced over Terrador's shoulder to where the class of dragons still waited in the distance. "And shame on you Terrador, not introducing me to your students. That still is one of the Guardian's duties, right? Taking in and training a number of promising or disadvantaged youths?"

"Oh, right." Terrador hesitated before beckoning towards the class. "Pyrus is the fire dragon, Connan is the ice, Gaia is the earth dragoness, Zero is the white dragon, I'm sure you know who Spyro and Cynder are if you've spent any time in the city, and the other black dragoness is Electra." Each of the dragons inclined their heads, or in Connan's case waved cheerily, as their names were mentioned, all while Impirius paid close attention.

"Definitely not as many as when we were growing up." Impirius grunted. "The war must have claimed more eggs than I anticipated. But it is an honor to meet all of you, as this seems to be more closely related to a special task force for the Guardians as opposed to a simple class if half the stories I've heard are true. But it is excellent to see some students with such initiative again. As you might of gathered I never could stay too dedicated to my studies."

"And of course, special praise goes to Spyro and Cynder here." Impirius continued, stooping down to get a good look at the two dragons. "Excellent work putting a stop to that purple runt's plans to destroy the world. I know you two probably get this a lot, but thank you for ensuring our continued existence."

"You don't have to thank us, we were... just," Cynder ruffled her wings and shot a glance towards Spyro for support.

"We were doing what had to be done. Seeing Malefor and the apes defeated was reward enough." Spyro finished, picking up where Cynder left off.

Impirius nodded sagely, looking at Terrador out of the corner of his eyes. "Glad to see that they didn't pick up Cyril's pride along the way. But tell me, did you two have to stop Malefor in such a cataclysmic fashion? The avalanches caused by your valiant efforts took me weeks to clear."

"Avalanches?" Pyrus cut in, causing Impirius to take real notice of him for the first time. "Winters are bad enough down here, but you lived in a place where it was even colder?"

"Up near Dante's Freezer, yes." Impirius nodded. "That's where we've been hiding out the past few years, freezing our tails off in that cursed wasteland. But it was prime terrain, of no use to Malefor's troops, and the cold isn't even that much of an issue for fire dragons like you and me, Pyrus. But if what you are saying is true, then I won't be escaping the snow for very long."

"You also said we." Gaia said, her mind racing through the possibilities. "Does that mean that you brought more dragons back to Warfang with you Impirius?"

"Yes, you did seem to indicate you weren't alone." Terrador agreed, regarding Impirius with a curious look. "But I certainly don't recall any large groups of dragons taking up residence within the city recently."

"That's because I didn't bring a whole colony of dragons, sorry to disappoint." Impirius replied bluntly. "There's probably a few large groups still hiding under whatever rock they crawled under, but I certainly didn't drag them back out. No, it was just the two of us up there, and the two of us back here in Warfang. Speaking of which..."

"Aiden!" Impirius shouted back down the corridor he had come from. "Aiden, where did you run off to? Just come say hello, it's the polite thing to do."

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, at the far end of the hallway, a small, dark red head timidly peeked around the corner. As his vibrant orange eyes noticed the small crowd of dragons watching him, Aiden nervously reached up to trace a claw along one of his crooked black horns. Sucking in a deep breath, the dragon stepped out into full view and began to make his way down the hallway. His head hung low, the young dragon slunk towards the group, his tail blade lightly scrapping against the floor. Held around his neck by a single, badly frayed strap was a light brown satchel, which bounced and swung about with a light clinking sound. Stopping next to Impirius, Aiden raised his head to expose his dark gray chest scales. Eyes darting from one unfamiliar face to the next, Aiden cleared his throat. "Um, yes, Uh... Hello."

"There, was that so bad?" Impirius asked, giving the young dragon a pat on the back that was powerful enough to send him stumbling forward a few steps before he caught himself. Noticing Terrador's questioning gaze, Impirius spoke again. "Everyone, this is Aiden, my son. Aiden, I believe I told you about Terrador, or should I say the Earth Guardian?"

Aiden nodded quickly, craning his head back to look up at Terrador. "Yes, yes you did Dad. It's an honor to meet you, Master Terrador. A very, very great honor indeed."

As Aiden tripped over his own tongue some more, Spyro took the opportunity to study him a bit more closely. While the father/son resemblance was plain to see, both in scales, horns and presumably element, Aiden still differed from his father quite significantly. While Impirius was built like an ox, Aiden was much more slender than most other dragons Spyro's age. But the eyes, and certainly the tail blade were both traits that Aiden must have inherited from his mother. Spyro considered asking where she was, but quickly abandoned the idea. Impirius had only mentioned himself and one other dragon living at Dante's Freezer after all. It wasn't too hard to connect the dots.

"So, tell me Terrador, how many of the old crew are still kicking?" Impirius inquired, giving Aiden a much needed excuse to step out of the spotlight. "I know Volteer and Cyril are up here too, but what about everyone else? I seem to remember a feisty young electric dragoness that you had an eye on all those years ago. Is she tucked away back in the Guardian's chambers, pining away for her Earth Guardian to return to her?"

"Wait, Terrador was once involved with a dragoness?" Connan muttered, his eyes glancing around the rest of the group. "Like, _romantically_ involved?"

"You're honestly surprised by that?" Pyrus whispered, while most of the girls just rolled their eyes. "They've been around a lot longer than us Connan. Not to mention that most of their lives have been spent in peace, so I'm sure they enjoyed a lot more free time as well."

"I know, it's just that..." Connan pointed a claw up towards the Earth Guardian. "Terrador?"

At the mention of their shared past, Terrador's expression darkened, the Guardian almost imperceptibly slipping back into his usual gruff manner. "Impirius, perhaps we should continue this discussion in private." Terrador said, glaring down at whispering group of his students. Pyrus and Connan immediately ceased conversing and fixed their eyes down on the ground, painfully aware that Terrador had overheard them talking about him.

Impirius' smile dropped a notch, as he caught Terrador's implication. "Oh, right you are then. Lead on." Terrador grunted, striding back over to the door of the training hall and wrenching it open with one paw. Impirius paused, looking downwards to where Aiden waited loyally by his side, the young dragon rocking back and forth while trying not to make eye contact with anybody. "Aiden, I want you back at the house before sunset. I trust you know the way back from here?"

Aiden snapped to attention, his nervous demeanor diminishing as he considered his father's question. "I believe so. From the elevator terminals, it's five blocks north, then three blocks west, and then another two blocks north. Third building on the right."

Impirius nodded, giving Aiden a light pat on the head. "There you go kiddo. And as far as dinner goes, I'm sure that these kind dragons here would be more than happy to show you the dining hall."

"A-are you sure about that Dad?" Aiden stepped forward, his actions suddenly jittery again. "I mean, there should still be some produce left over from your trip to the market yesterday. I'm sure that would be a much cheaper alternative, especially since we barely have enough money to last through the we-"

"No complaints, some socializing will do you good Aiden!" Impirius called back as the training room door swung shut behind him, leaving only an awkward silence in his wake.

With the removal of any overseeing authority figures, Connan sprang into action. Sauntering up next to Pyrus, the ice dragon laid out his most mischievous grin, extending an arm to rest on his friend's shoulder. "So, Aiden, are you our replacement fire dragon? Because trust me, the original has quite a few unfortunate quirks. Like sleeping too late into the morning, being unnecessarily loud, a tendency to broil any dragon that happens to play an innocent practical joke on him..."

"I want to go on record and say that freezing someone's bath water solid is very, very far from an innocent joke." Pyrus interrupted, shooting a scathing look across to Connan. "Especially when the dragon in question is recovering from life-threatening wounds no less."

"I second that opinion." Gaia piped up. "Face it Connan, Pyrus' retribution was more than justified for that one."

Connan let out a sigh, reluctantly withdrawing his paw from Pyrus' shoulder. "You're all just overreacting. It's not I would have done it if he wasn't anything but a fire dragon."

"Well that certainly sounds... interesting." Aiden spoke cautiously, his eyes darting over the scar on Pyrus' chest. "I'll be sure to watch out for something like that next time I use a bath house. But there's absolutely no need to worry, I'm certainly not replacing anyone, least of all Mr. Py... Pyre? Or was it Pyrite? Am I saying that right?"

"It's Pyrus, and don't worry your head off about it, I have been called much worse names than Pyrite." Pyrus corrected, offering his best disarming smile. Considering his relationship with Crystal, there was no way that Aiden could say any more scathing insults than she could muster up. And besides, there wasn't even the slightest trace of maliciousness in Aiden's timid attempts at conversation.

"Pyrus, got it. Truly sorry about that, I'm simply atrocious with names." Aiden shook his head. "Anyways, what was I saying before? Ah, yes, I won't be attending any classes up here. I'll probably be stuck in one of the schools down in the city itself. Or at least I will be once our financial situation has stabilized."

"You do seem pretty preoccupied with your family's finances." Cynder noted, a flash of concern crossing her features. "Do you have enough to get by?"

"For now." Aiden replied. Reaching a paw up to his satchel, Aiden clicked the latch loose and peered inside to where Spyro could just seem the faint glimmer of gold coins. "I've always been good with numbers, so Dad thought it would be best if I kept track of the money when we moved to the city. These are all the coins that we hung onto after we traveled into the North. But we should have enough to get started, as long as Dad finds some type of paying job soon. I'm sorry, but I don't believe I caught your name Miss..."

"Cynder. My name is Cynder." Spyro noticed Cynder's tail blade sweep back and forth across the floor, a sign of the inner apprehension she must be feeling. And who could blame her, there was always the distinct possibility that she was the reason why Aiden was being raised by just his father.

"Cynder..." Aiden paused, his expression contemplative. "I don't know why, but your name sounds vaguely familiar." Cynder noticeably tensed up, while the rest of the dragons exchanged nervous glances. This could turn ugly very quickly.

Aiden snapped his claws, his face lighting up with excitement. "Wait, you're the Cynder, aren't you? The former Terror of the Skies, that Cynder. And you must be the purple dragon, Spyro!" Aiden shook his head in disbelief. "Man, I really need to pay better attention to the dragons I'm talking to."

"So you know about us?" Spyro questioned, glad that Aiden didn't seem to be taking the news badly. "You know who we are?"

"Sort of." Aiden faltered. "Just whatever stories I picked up since arriving in Warfang. But I mean, you two squared up against Malefor, arguably one of the most powerful dragons ever. And you won. I mean, that is a fight that has to go down in history as one of the greatest underdog victories. I imagine that you've given hatchlings something to act out in play fights for several centuries to come." Aiden rambled on, all previous inhibitions gone.

Spyro and Cynder exchanged glances. "You know," Cynder began. "If you're really that interested, we would have no problem telling you all about it over dinner."

"Really? That sounds-" Aiden stopped, suddenly looking down back into the satchel. After a few moments of mental turmoil, he closed the bag and secured the latch. "I mean yes, I would like that. If it's not too much trouble of course."

"Then it's settled." Connan said, standing up straight and beginning a slow march down the corridor. "To the best room in the temple, the dining hall. And while we're there, I can also tell you about the time I single-handedly defeated a whole army of apes and stormed a mountain fortress to confront their deranged warlord."

Aiden raised his eyebrows in surprise, even as he followed the group down the corridor. "Really? I have to admit, that also sounds like a fascinating battle for the history books. And that was something that involved all of you?"

"Yep." Pyrus nodded. "Just don't let Connan's version fool you, we all played an equal part. And before we get to the dining hall," Pyrus beckoned forward to Aiden. "Come stand in the middle of the group. That way, they'll think you're one of us and they won't charge you for an entry fee."

Aiden frowned, even as he sped up to occupy the indicated position. "That seems rather dishonest if I do say so myself."

"Hey, relax." Gaia reassured. "Trust me, the temple is doing more than alright for itself as far as money goes, and you definitely need it more."

"If you say so." Aiden muttered. "And I feel obligated to also apologize ahead of time for not being able to contribute much to the conversation once we sit down. Apart from names, another one of my shortcomings is small talk."

Pyrus snorted and shook his head. "Aiden, you have been doing just fine so far. And believe it or not, you're actually not the worst dragon we've ever come across in terms of small talk."

"Really?" Aiden glanced at Pyrus, doubt etched on every corner of his face. "Constantly messing up names, occasionally stuttering, losing my train of thought, and you actually know someone worse than me?"

"Yeah, just watch this." Pyrus spoke in an undertone. Raising his voice, Pyrus addressed the two dragons that were currently hanging toward the front of the group. "Hey! Electra, Zero, you two haven't said much so far."

Glancing over her shoulder, Electra gave a sort of apologetic shrug towards Aiden before facing forward again, a light blush coloring her features. Zero, who was walking beside her, at least rewarded Pyrus with a response. "While I certainly welcome Aiden and his father to the temple, I have yet to have a pertinent comment to add to the conversation thus far."

"Yeah, I wouldn't worry." Pyrus said to Aiden, all while the other fire dragon stared Zero and Electra with a somewhat puzzled expression. "You'll fit in just fine."

_/*\\_

"I know I've said this before, but you guys have it made with this Guardian business." Impirius idly sipped at his glass, before placing it back down on the table. "Gourmet food, a massive temple, no concerns about money, a laid back life I dare say. I mean, you even have actual glasses to drink from. Aiden and I just have these wooden cups we have to walk a city block to fill up from a well."

"Now Impirius, I would not go nearly that far, old chap." Cyril objected. "We were at war. We were the ones commanding the army, the ones in charge of overseeing every aspect of Warfang's defense, and the ones that had to lead many of the troops into battle. At times, I think we were the only ones that stopped the dragons from breaking entirely."

"Fair point, but that was then, and this is now." Impirius pointed out, gesturing to the chamber around them. Although not nearly as large as the training hall, the Guardian's Quarters were still an impressive piece of architecture. The circular room was lined with period torches, illuminating the chamber as the natural light slowly diminished. A total of six doors branched off from the main room, four for each of the respective Guardians, one for the training hall and one that lead back out into the temple corridors. In the center of the room, a little ways away from the table and benches that had been drawn up for the exemplary dinner, was a shallow indent in the floor that was filled to the brim with murky, dark water. A pool of visions, albeit one that had thus far not given any insights since its construction.

"I mean, be honest with me, what difficult duties do you three have to deal with now that the war's over? Training a class of the city's best students? Attending a ribbon cutting ceremony or two? Should be pretty easy living from now on, don't you agree?" Impirius continued, his bright blue eyes sweeping across the expressions of the three Guardian's seated around him, searching for any signs of dissent.

Volteer was finally the one to break the silence with a loud sigh. "I'm not sure you quite grasp the particulars of the matter Impirius. We always have to maintain a careful balance between all the powers in the city so that no one gains an inequitable advantage. There's also no end to the tragedies, taking into account this dreadful business with the-" Volteer stopped, for once catching his run away mouth just before he reveled classified information.

"What business?" Impirius pressed, his curiosity aroused. Turning to the Earth Guardian on his right, Impirius gave an imploring nudge. "Aw, come on Terry? What is it you don't want to tell? I can keep a secret. Not that I have many friends left alive to tell it anyways."

"First of all, don't call me Terry." Terrador growled. "I was outgrowing that nickname even before you left. As for this current matter, it is not as apocalyptic as Volteer made it out to me. Just a clan of bandits raiding merchant and refugee convoys to the south. We've had a few incidents so far, but only one survivor has lived to tell the tale. And from her testimony, this isn't going to be a pretty situation to resolve." Terrador hesitated, taking the opportunity to study his own mostly empty glass, the last vestiges of wine forming a small purple puddle at the bottom. "These bandits, they're dragons Impirius. Dragons fighting against and killing their own kind."

"Hmmmm." Impirius mused, his brow furrowing. "That is troubling news indeed. I can't fathom what might motivate them to such action."

"Oh they're crafty devils alright." Cyril's expression turned sour. "Acting as if they had just been attacked by apes or grublins, then stabbing anyone that comes to their aid in the back. I hate to admit it fellas, but if they're half as competent as young Vera made them out to be, I don't expect the Warfang troops we sent to turn up anything."

A gloomy silence hung over the table as the dragons considered Cyril's words. After a while, Impirius cleared his throat. "If you want, I always could ask around in some of the taverns and diners down in the city. See if any travelers that came up from the south know anything. You never know, I might find someone who has experience with these bandits in one form or another."

"Thank you Impirius, that would be advantageous, favorable and conductive towards putting this matter to rest." Volteer chimed in, suddenly looking wistful. "If only Ignitus were still here, he might be able to find a nonviolent way to talk these bandits down." Terrador and Cyril both nodded in agreement, their eyes unconsciously drifting to the door emblazoned with an etching of a burning red fire. The room beyond had never been occupied, and was still in the exact same pristine shape that it had been in when the temple was constructed.

"A toast." Impirius called out, raising his glass towards the center of the table. "To Ignitus, the Fire Guardian, the level headed negotiator. The hero." With a sharp tinkling of glasses, the dragons all sat back and took a deep sip, each of them recalling the former Fire Guardian in their own way.

As the now empty glasses returned to the table, Cyril squinted over at the fire dragon. "Say, Impirius, correct me if I am mistaken, but you and Ignitus never really got along all that well. A schoolyard rivalry as it were, correct?"

Impirius shook his head, letting out a short bark of laughter. "No, no we didn't. Apparently I was a bit too vulgar for his liking. Might also have been because he didn't appreciate the nickname that I gave him. But that's Iggy for you, always concerned about prophecies and aspiring to do something great with his life." Impirius stopped, his brief smile slowly sliding off his face. "But through it all, I will admit that I respected him. More so now that I know the circumstances of his death. He will be missed."

Beside Impirius, Terrador suddenly narrowed his eyes, regarding the dark red dragon beside him with a newly reserved expression. "Well, it's certainly been nice to see you Impirius, but why don't you stop beating around the bush and tell us why you're really here."

While the other two Guardians looked at Terrador curiously, Impirius paid the green dragon no mind, instead idly picking up a small scrap of meat still leftover from the night's meal. "Why, whatever do you mean by that Terry? Is reconnecting with old friends such a crime these days?"

"Don't call me that!" Terrador snapped. "You think that just because the war's over and Ignitus is gone, that makes you the prime candidate for the new Fire Guardian, right?"

"Now Terrador, why don't you just calm down and let me-"

"No Impirius, you listen to me." Terrador stood up abruptly, his voice lowering to a dangerous growl. "You can't just waltz in here, pretend to mourn Ignitus and expect us to just hand you his position on a golden platter! You may have once been prime material for a Guardian, but that was a long time ago. As far as I'm concerned, you gave up that opportunity when you left the old temple without so much as a goodbye. You're my friend Impirius, but I have difficulty believing that you would stoop this low."

"That I would stoop this low?!" Impirius rose to his feet as well, sending the bench skidding back with an earsplitting screech. "That I came all the way back to Warfang to become a leader of the city and spit on Ignitus' grave? Tell you what Terrador, you're right. You are one hundred percent correct. Is that what you want to hear? Is that going to make you feel better? Don't you think that I don't know how obvious I'm being right now? Well, do you!?"

Impirius turned his back on the Guardians, pacing back and forth as his mace tail blade swept across the floor. After a minute, Impirius turned back around and pointed to Terrador. "Look, just listen to me for a minute, alright? I'm not a saint, I freely admit that. I'm not going to pretend that I would turn down the position if you happened to offer it to me. And believe me, I have done a lot of things that I regret, but leaving that old temple was never one of them."

Impirius stopped, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. "It's not like I would be a horrible candidate for the position. I'm a little rusty, but my fire mastery is still top notch. And even if you offered it to me, I would like to think it was because I was the best fit for the job, not because I used to hang around with the current Guardians while we were growing up."

"But still," Impirius shook his head and sighed. "As much as I want things to go back to the way they were before the war, I have to face the facts. I'm getting up there in years, and it's a bit too late for me to learn a trade or craft. I need to provide for Aiden, he deserves a good upbringing after everything I've put him through. And considering my skill set, I'd say that my best bet is either going to be Fire Guardian or city guard. I'm sure you all know which one I would prefer. So I'm asking you, dragon to dragon, do you think I have a shot at becoming a Guardian? Because if not, I need to hurry up and apply for that guard position before our money runs out."

Terrador's expression softened, and the other two Guardians slowly rose to stand beside him. After another minute of silence following Impirius' outburst, Terrador spoke, his voice calm once more. "You've certainly matured quite a bit since last time I saw you Impirius."

Impirius smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Becoming a father will do that to a dragon. That was the reason I left you know. She was the most breathtaking dragoness I had ever had the privilege to glimpse. Flair was her name, we were together for at least the last year when I left the temple. It was the happiest I had ever been, sneaking out every night just to see her for a few minutes." For one second, Terrador thought he could see tears welling in Impirius' eyes, but then the dragon blinked, and they were gone.

"And Aiden, of course, he takes a lot after me." Impirius continued on. "Same scales, similar horns, about the same size I was back when I was his age. But every time I look at him, I always see her eyes staring back at me. Every single time." Impirius laughed again, shaking his head. "If you went back and told me that I would be saying something as lovestruck as that, I would have probably punched you right in the face."

"I can certainly appreciate the sentiment you've shown us Impirius." Cyril finally said regretfully. "But these things take time. Even if we were prepared to, I don't think you would be given the position of Fire Guardian for quite awhile. It would best for you to seek employment in the city guard."

"Maybe you're right." Impirius hung his head. "It was a long shot anyways, and at very least I wasn't kidding when I said it was great to reconnect with you guys. But a word of warning, I don't think everyone else is going to be understanding of the situation."

"What exactly are you insinuating?" Volteer questioned, stepping forward toward Impirius.

"Haven't you noticed?" Impirius responded. "I've only been at the temple for one afternoon, but even I can tell that the ratio of fire dragons to everyone else is a lot higher than it should be. I know you're still mourning Ignitus, but you need to start taking the steps to move on. Just something to think about."

"We will. I'm sorry for accusing you so harshly earlier Impirius." Terrador offered a paw out in forgiveness. "I just have a very low tolerance for any kind of political power plays. Force of habit, you understand."

"No hard feelings Terry." Impirius shook the Earth Guardian's paw, giving it a few good pumps before releasing. "I should probably get going. I've been a bit too reliant on Aiden's built in navigational skills. If the sun sets while I'm still up here I'll never find my way home. I'll be sure to visit again once I have everything sorted out though. Good night to all of you."

And with that, Impirius turned and left, heading out the door that lead back into the temple corridors, leaving the three Guardians behind in the echoing silence. "He does bring up a good point Terrador." Volteer mused. "This is something that we have been putting off for quite a while now. I'm sure this isn't what Ignitus would have wanted."

Terrador sucked in a deep breath and let it out before finally nodding. "You're right. But if we're going to do this, we are going to do this the right way, understood?"

The other two Guardian's nodded. "I'll pay a visit to the archives, make sure that we know all the proper procedures." Volteer muttered, stalking off toward the door that Impirius had left through.

"And I'll meet with the city council tomorrow, let them know what we've decided." Cyril nodded his head enthusiastically. "Sad though it is, it ought to be an amusing enough distraction from the recent troubles. I assume you have no issue with handling the training sessions for a third day in a row?"

Terrador shook his head. Content that his work was done, Cyril also departed, vanishing through the door adorned with the blue ice emblem. Now alone, Terrador turned and walked to the door to the Fire Guardian's bedroom. Pausing at the threshold, Terrador laid a paw on the bright red fire emblem. "I miss you, old friend. Don't worry, you won't be forgotten." Letting his paw drop from the door, Terrador set about clearing the table and extinguishing the torches one by one. As the room slowly succumb to darkness, Terrador finally stepped through the door to his own bedchambers, the door swinging shut behind him with a soft click.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: First Steps

Patterns. Simple, complex, obscure, blatant, but always repeating. Everything eventually came down to a precise set of motions that were guaranteed to be repeated again at some point in the future. That wasn't to say that life was all just one big circle, no, that wasn't quite right. It was more like a circle made out of circles. No, that wasn't quite right either. Too simplistic.

Even though Zero knew with absolute certainty that he wasn't going to unravel the answer to life's greatest questions while sitting in the Temple's training hall, it was something his mind wandered to with surprising frequency. A pattern of his own, he supposed.

Taking a moment to survey the room before him, Zero resumed what he had been doing moments before his mind had turned to philosophy: watching the sparing match between Spyro and Gaia. It wasn't that the match was boring, it was more that it was a bit too predictable to hold his attention for long. He had already knew the victor, and the cycle that the match kept shifting through, the only unknown left was for how much longer it would last until the inevitable conclusion.

Despite what many dragons seemed to think, Zero was by no means an emotionless automaton, relentlessly picking his opponent's fighting style and personality apart to locate their weaknesses. True, it was his favorite way to bring a fight to a screeching halt, but what everyone else failed to understand was just how difficult it could be at times. While he had compiled a mostly accurate break down of the current match, he wasn't the one being pelted with half-pound chunks of rock.

Zero's eyes flicked downward, briefly alighting on the fire dragon seated in the front row, his stunted tail restlessly scratching against the wooden benches. Just to the dragon's left lay a small pile of untouched scrolls, manuals of fire techniques that Volteer had incorrectly hoped would keep Pyrus' mind off being grounded. They would never quite see eye to eye, but Zero readily admitted that he had a certain respect for Pyrus. At first glance, he appeared to be a simple opponent that could easily be provoked into repeating patterns, assuring a quick defeat to the trained observer. But just when Zero thought he had the upper hand, Pyrus would switch to a different pattern, often with effective results. Zero suspected that this sudden adaptation was not intentional, but one could not argue with the results. Prior to his injury, Pyrus was the one dragon that Zero had yet to win a match against. Perhaps in the far future, after he fully recovered, there could be a sparing match to settle the matter once and for all.

"You can't really believe it's that forgone, can you?" A doubtful voice popped up on his right, and Zero saw Electra lean forward to take a more careful analysis of the dragons below. They were sitting on the top row of the bleachers, separated from the rest of the class by several rows of empty seats. It may not be the most sociable choice, but it did offer the best view of the arena, which was essential for both his and Electra's observations.

"I mean, that is a tad bit pessimistic of you." Electra continued on, pretending not to notice Zero fixating her with a bemused stare. "Spyro is pretty resourceful. Even if he doesn't win, it has got to be a lot closer than you think."

"You're not wrong." Zero nodded, switching his attention back to the arena. As he watched, the purple dragon raised up three fist-sized clumps of earth and sent them arching across the arena towards his opponent. With a soft rumble, Gaia drew up a thin column of rock, the incoming projectiles vanishing into puffs of tan dust as they impacted the pillar. "But Spyro's, and to the lesser extent Cynder's, main strengths always come from the resourcefulness and flexibility granted by their possession of four different elements. So no, I don't believe I'm being overly pessimistic with my prediction."

Electra was silent for a moment, watching the fight meander back and forth before she spoke again. "Alright, but Spyro is still by no means a novice when it comes to earth. And Gaia isn't what I would call a master either. But even if she was, I would still argue that anything could happen. Don't you remember the story of Ice Guardian Zicile? One of the best ice dragons of the age, and he was killed by a simple bear while out hunting."

"That is one of the many reasons why I never claim to be 100% accurate. I only predict the most likely outcome." Zero conceded. "But here, I expect other factors to intervene long before random chance has a serious impact on the match."

Electra looked back down to the floor, her bight yellow eyes trained on Gaia as she danced to and fro to avoid the flurry of earth pillars leaping up around her. Finally, Electra leaned over and tentatively nudged Zero. "Well, what is it? What's this occurrence that you are foretelling of that's going to cinch Gaia's victory?"

Zero smiled. This was why he liked Electra, why they had become such good friends. The others were nice, and Zero would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy their company as well, but they just weren't her. They were content to take his word for it, or to assume that it was something that only he could see or do. But Electra, she actually took the time to try and peek inside his world from time to time. To learn how he saw things, how he interpenetrated what was right in front of him in a different way from everyone else. It was something that Zero hadn't experienced since his family had died, and that made it all the more precious to him.

"Watch Spyro very carefully." Zero began, extending a white paw towards Spyro as he exchanged a number of claw and tail swipes with the resilient Gaia. "He normally varies his move sets quite a bit, but with an earth only match, he's mentally limited himself. He mostly follows the same basic techniques whenever he goes on the offensive, techniques that are closely tied to the idea of confronting your opponent head on with as much force as possible. Within certain deviations, and not counting when he goes back to defensive, this is what Spyro has been doing the entire match."

"First, he always starts with a ranged attack. Something powerful enough to convince Gaia to raise a defensive barrier. As soon as that barrier goes up, he starts to close the distance, maintaining a constant barrage to keep Gaia on her toes. Then, he fights her using tail, teeth, and talons, trying his best to cut her ribbon before she finds a way to strike back. He then retreats, and waits for an opening to start the strategy anew."

With an echoing boom, Spyro was knocked back, tumbling across the floor from Gaia's unexpected concussive blast. Quickly scrambling to his feet, the purple dragon retreated a short ways, ducking and weaving around the retaliatory barrage. Back in the stands, Electra sat quietly, chin supported by one of her forepaws, considering Zero's words. "I think I see what you are getting at, but I still don't know how that's going to become the tipping point in the match. After all, it's worked out well for Spyro so far, even if it is a pretty basic strategy."

Zero reclined leisurely in his seat, gently resting his upper back against the stone wall behind him. "But that's just it. My prediction isn't wholly dependent on Spyro's actions. If it was, I'd say that it's a coin toss due to that element of random occurrence you brought up earlier. My prediction is instead based upon whether or not Gaia catches on and counterattacks during his ranged offensive phase."

Even as Zero finished speaking, Spyro switched back to the offensive, sending his own volley of airborne projectiles back towards Gaia. Just as before, the earth dragoness conjured up a sturdy earthen pillar to shield herself. But even as Spyro began to move forward once again, maintaining a periodic assault of airborne boulders, Gaia kicked out with one of her hind paws, the blow connecting with her pillar with a sharp crack and infusing it with a burst of elemental power. Breaking off from its base, the pillar slid across the floor, giving Spyro almost no opportunity to evade it. It connected with a cringe-worthy crash, crumbling into a pile of stones around the stunned dragon. Seizing the opportunity, Gaia sprang forward, ending the match in a matter of seconds. It always came down to patterns, every single time.

"Game, set and match." Gaia panted, twirling the bright pink ribbon that had been secured around Spyro's neck moments before. Closing her fist around the ribbon, Gaia switched forepaws, offering the other up in a token of good sportsmanship. "You put up a good fight there Spryo. But next time, don't expect me to go easy on you."

Spyro slowly picked himself off the floor, accepting Gaia's paw as he pulled himself up. "That was you going easy? Are you saying that you could have ended that fight at any time if you wanted to?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Gaia smiled consolingly. "If I had, you could have turned the tables when I went in for the ribbon cut. You have a ton more experience when it comes to actual close quarter combat. And besides, it was a good chance to see what you can really do with earth. If I may, I'd say that your earth spike needs a bit more cohesiveness. For example, maybe you could try..."

The rest of Gaia's words were drowned out by the rest of the class as they rose to their feet, the low hum of conversation filling the hall once more. Beside the bleachers, Terrador shook himself as he looked down on his pupils, an action that was not lost to Zero as he trotted down the steps with Electra. The Guardians had seemed quite preoccupied as of late, in Terrador's case it simply came down to staring at the opposite wall with a furrowed brow. Regardless, Zero expected that he would find out more about the issue soon, one way or another.

With a groaning creak, the door leading to the Guardian's quarters swung ajar. Zero watched it out of the corner of his eye, even while the others were busy chatting among themselves. This was expected, it was most likely one of the other Guardians coming to relieve Terrador of class duty. The Earth Guardian had been the presiding teacher for the past few days after all, it was long overdue for a turnover. But what Zero did not expect was for someone other than Volteer or Cyril to come waltzing in, someone with a vastly different scale shading and a good deal shorter than the Guardians.

"See! I knew there was someone on the other side of this door." The dragoness called back over her shoulder. Turning her head back around, the dragoness came to a halt, her light blue eyes taking in the eight pairs of confused expressions staring right back at her. "Actually, make that several different someones."

"Vera, get back here." The door swung open wider, this time revealing a rather haggard looking Cyril leaning against the threshold. "I know you want to move around and meet the others, but patience is a rather valuable virtue young lady. You need this appointment, and we don't want to keep our extraordinarily busy doctor waiting, now do we?"

Vera rolled her eyes, blowing out a fast stream of air out of the corner of her mouth. "No, we don't Master Cyril. But, until he gets here, why not make a few new friends?" Vera finished, resuming her brisk pace towards the silent group.

"Hello there!" Vera approached the nearest dragon to her, which happened to be a taken aback Cynder. "How are you doing? My name's Vera, although you probably already know that. What am I saying, of course you do, Master Cyril just called me that."

Cynder forced out a short laugh. "Yeah, it would be a pretty big slip up on my part if I didn't know who you were. I'm Cynder, it's nice to finally meet you Vera."

Vera nodded and cocked her head, studying Cynder intently. "Cynder, that's a good name. Let me tell you, I've heard quite a bit about you already Cynder, back when I was hiding in the Tall Plains. It's very relieving news indeed to hear that you're on our side now. And I'm going to take a shot in the dark and wager that the cute purple guy here is Spyro, right?"

Spyro nodded numbly, glancing over towards Cynder even as his cheeks turned a slight shade of pink. Zero switched his attention to the shadow dragoness as well, almost immediately picking up on the slightly widened stance and narrowed eyes. Not overtly hostile, but certainly far from what Zero would call a flawless first impression. Thankfully, Gaia was on hand to mediate the situation before it got any worse. Stepping in between the two dragonesses, Gaia flashed her best disarming smile. "Hey there Vera, good to see that you're up and about. Listen, you're just meeting everyone for the first time, and there might be one or two things you don't know about, such as-"

"Oh wait wait wait, don't tell me." Vera interrupted, holding up a paw to stop Gaia mid-sentence. Taking a few steps to the side so that she had a good view of Spyro and Cynder once more, Vera studied the pair intently as a smile slowly spread across her face. "I got it! You two are totally dating each other, right? I mean, if you're not, then this just got awkward again, but I think you two would make the most adorable couple. So if you're not, then just take it as a suggestion from me, okay? And I know you sound familiar, but I don't quite have a name to put to your face yet." Vera continued, transitioning seamlessly back toward talking to Gaia without skipping a beat.

"It's...Gaia." The earth dragoness replied, for once caught off guard by someone more outgoing than herself.

Vera's face lit up again with another dazzling smile, but one that Zero couldn't help by notice that it didn't quite work its way up to her eyes. "You're Gaia? So you're the one that came by my room yesterday with breakfast. By the way, is that something that you guys get to eat every single day? Because it was absolutely delicious!"

"Glad you enjoyed it." Gaia breathed out a soft sigh of relief. "So you actually heard me talking to you through the door? I had just assumed that you were still asleep."

"Almost." Vera winked. "Sorry for not saying anything, but by the time I actually looked presentable and was coherent enough to speak clearly, you were already gone. It was a very welcoming gesture though, thank you so much for going out of your way for me."

Gaia shrugged, shooting a sidelong look towards Terrador to verify that she wasn't going to be punished. "It was no trouble. I'm just glad you were just asleep, instead of, well, you know..."

"Of course not. And who are you?" Vera turned away, this time making a beeline for the one remaining female in the group. "Come on, don't be shy, I don't bite. What's your name?"

Electra slunk back, overwhelmed by the sudden focus directed toward her. Noticing her discomfort, Zero roused himself into action. "Her name is Electra." He said, standing tall next to the mute dragoness. Out of sight of the others, he lifted his tail over to give her a short pat just above the tail blade, the furthest extent of reassurance he could offer at the moment. "And before you ask, she's perfectly fine, just easily intimidated by meeting new dragons. It's not an insult or anything that you've done wrong, so don't worry about it."

Vera nodded solemnly, taking a few respectful steps back. "I see. In that case, I apologize for the intrusion, I guess that's just how I react when meeting new dragons. Polar opposites, huh? Well, anytime you want to introduce yourself is fine by me, I'm in no rush."

"Sorry to cut in old chaps," Cyril spoke up, stepping out of the doorway and into the training hall proper. "But the doctor is actually here now, and I don't think I stressed quite enough how extraordinarily busy he is. Not to mention that I have a city council meeting in less than an hour, so let's hop to it!"

"Alright, alright." Vera reluctantly turned away and began a slow, plodding walk back towards the Ice Guardian. "I guess they must think I'm about to drop dead or something. And don't think that I've forgotten about the rest of you. Red, Blue, Whitey, we'll all catch up together real soon. Don't be a stranger!" Vera stopped on the other side of Cyril, giving one last cheerful wave before the Ice Guardian pulled the door shut with a sharp snap.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected." Cynder spoke first, simultaneously summing up what everyone else was thinking.

"Blue?!" Connan spluttered indignantly. "Sure, she doesn't know my name yet, but Blue?! That's seriously the best that she could come up with?"

"I'm kinda inclined to agree." Pyrus nodded, although Zero could tell that he wasn't nearly as much bothered by the improvised nickname as Connan was. "There were so many other qualities of yours that she could have picked. Like Crooked Horns, or Ice Breath, or Unfunny Comedian..."

"Oh, you're a real riot there, Pyrus." Connan grumbled, even as everyone else laughed. "You're just lucky she didn't call you Snub Tail." Pyrus' expression soured, but he didn't bother to offer any sort of response.

"I guess I'm glad she's finding ways to cope with her loss." Electra piped up as the laughter quieted, having regained some of her confidence now that Vera was gone. "I think we all know how hard that can be."

Everyone except for Zero nodded in agreement. Of course they did, they had all been watching, but they hadn't really been observing. If they had, they would have noticed the way that Vera's tail always dragged along the ground, or how tightly she held her wings against her body, or the surprising lack of handshakes and any other sort of physical contact for someone that was supposedly extremely outgoing. Vera may have fooled everyone else, but not Zero. The stages of grief were still a pattern after all, and there was no way to cheat your way out of ingrained patterns like that.

Some time later, and after another grueling session of physical workout courtesy of Terrador, the dragons filed out of the training hall, eager for whatever was being cooked up for lunch in the Dining Hall. The overall mood was jovial, with Vera's apparent recovery bolstering the spirits of the students. Everyone except Pyrus it appeared, who followed along behind the group without speaking. Zero knew full well how excluded the fire dragon must be feeling right now, despite everyone's best efforts to cheer him up. And though it was lighthearted and probably well intentioned, Zero suspected Connan's jab at Pyrus' injured tail had struck a deeper cord than the ice dragon had intended. Zero considered trying to talk to Pyrus himself, but quickly dismissed the idea. If he really wanted to help, it would probably be best to let Gaia or Electra handle it.

Ahead of them, the double doors to the Dining Hall stood open, a mole attendant with a basket full a gold casually leaning against the adjacent wall. Although it had caused quite a firestorm in the council, the Guardians had finally managed to secure the a source of revenue from the Dining Hall, on the grounds that they couldn't expect to feed the whole city with the newly open temple without drawing in massive amounts of taxes to pay for the food. Henceforth, the cafeteria operated as a self-serve buffet, but at least it was a very good buffet that the students didn't have to pay for.

It took the mole attendant some time to notice the group, and as they neared the doors Zero saw why. Another dragon was already there, seated against the opposite wall and tapping her tail against the marble. Since the attendant's one job was to make sure everyone paid before entering, he was probably just making sure the dragoness didn't slip in while his back was turned. Although personally, Zero found this assumption a tad bit unfounded. Judging by the numerous pieces of jewelry the dragoness had adorned around her legs and neck she should, at least theoretically, have no issue with paying the entrance fee.

Standing up with a sudden motion, the light blue dragoness took a deep breath and marched toward the group of dragons. "Excuse me?" She said, her tone polite and refrained. "But are the dragons Spyro and Cynder in your midst? I would like to have a quick word with them if it's not too much trouble."

The group stopped, each of them exchanging wary glances at the appearance of this strange dragoness. After a moment, the dragons shifted aside to allow Spyro and Cynder to come to the front. Curtseying low, the dragoness spoke again. "Hello once again Spyro. In case you do not remember, my name is Crystal Develia. About six weeks ago, I was here at the temple and I may have made a few unwarranted romantic advances that made you quite uncomfortable."

"I, uh, actually do remember you." Spyro replied, frowning slightly. "And although I can't say that I was exactly flattered by your advances, that was well over a month ago. Why are you here now?" Noticing movement out of the corner of his eye, Zero saw Pyrus had moved forward into the group, his gaze never wavering from Crystal's face.

Crystal nodded, her violet eyes briefly flicking over the rest of the dragons. Noticing Pyrus, she quickly switched her focus back to Spyro. "Yes, I fully realize that it has been quite some time, but I have still yet to make amends. I hope that you can forgive my lack of decency, I severely regret my actions of that day."

Spyro hesitated, looking back toward his friends for advice. Connan gave a noncommittal shrug, where as Gaia was giving the barest shake of her head. Meanwhile, Pyrus was still staring at Crystal, neither speaking or making any sort of gestures in the affirmative or negative. Realizing that Spyro was now looking directly at him, waiting for his input on the situation thus far, Zero gathered all the available evidence and body language laid out for him. Coming to a conclusion, he gave a short nod.

"Of course, I accept your apology." Spyro replied, causing Crystal's gaze to snap back to him as it had wandered back into the group of young dragons once more. "Just as long as nothing like that ever happens again, we're square."

"Splendid." Crystal smiled, but just like Vera, the smile never quite appeared in her eyes. "And Cynder, I hope that you will forgive my actions as well, as I believe they caused you some measure of distress. Please understand that I was ignorant of the full situation, and that such distress was never my intention."

"Sure." Cynder replied a bit more bluntly, her magenta wings rustling against her back as she did so. "But like Spyro said, make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Naturally." Crystal curtseyed again. "I do hope that this incident did not sully either of your impressions of me or my family. I also want to extend an invitation that should you ever care for a visit, we would be more than accommodating. We look forward to speaking with both of you again as soon as all of our busy schedules allow. I wish you all a good day." Shooting one last glance specifically at Pyrus this time, Crystal departed, traveling down the corridor that the dragons had just come from with her head held high.

"Well, that was certainly thoughtful of her." Gaia commented. "Coming all this way to apologize to Spyro and Cynder. And despite having a restraining order against our own lady's man over here." Gaia joked, playfully nudging the oblivious Pyrus.

"It would be." Zero spoke, turning back toward the dining hall. "If it was her idea to come and apologize in the first place."

"Wait a second," Spyro began, pointed a claw toward Zero. "I only accepted her apology because I thought you were telling me she was being sincere, if a little uncomfortable at confronting us due to Pyrus."

Zero gave a sidelong glance towards the purple dragon. "No, you accepted her apology because it would damage your political reputation to do anything else. Everything about her visit, from her stiff posture to her emotionless delivery points to the fact that she was merely reciting a speech that has been rehearsed plenty of times before now. She's a pawn, just trying to save her family's standing with you."

"Oh." Gaia wilted, her previous goodwill evaporating in a matter of seconds, instead being replaced with pity. "I'd almost feel sorry for her in that case, if she didn't have such a reputation of being a prude. Still, not much any of us can do about that other than to watch out for her parents making power plays."

Muttering their ascent, the rest of the group followed Zero's lead into the dining hall, the attendant waving them on through. Or at least, most of the group did. "Hey Pyrus, you coming?" Connan asked, his voice easily carrying to Zero and the others just inside the Hall. Curious, Zero paused to see just what exactly Pyrus was doing.

"I'll catch up with you guys later." The fire dragon called back, starting down in the same direction that Crystal had went. "I, uh... scrolls. I forgot those fire element scrolls that Volteer loaned me back in the training hall. I just need to grab them and take them back to my room real quick."

"Those musty old things?" Connan wrinkled his nose. "Weren't you telling me just an hour ago how much you despised those scrolls and wished that they would just get themselves lost or burned to ashes?" The ice dragon tilted his head, his tone suddenly suspicious.

"Just because I hate them doesn't mean everyone else does. If Volteer just sees them lying around, he'll have my hide for sure!" Pyrus shouted, already halfway down the corridor back toward the training hall. Content with Pyrus' answer, Connan spun back around and jogged towards the lunch line, eager to save his space before any more patrons got in between him and his food. Zero followed suite, his mind already musing over what he had overheard. He heavily doubted that Volteer would give anything more than a stern talking to if he found the priceless scrolls just laying around, and Pyrus certainly hadn't shown much of any regard for written materials in the past. Which made his current behavior all the more... unusual.

_/*\\_

Pyrus strode down the hallway, bypassing the doors to the now empty training hall without so much as slowing down. Instead, he pressed on, making sure to check down each new hallway and empty room that he passed. Pyrus had listened to Zero's analysis of Crystal, and although it wasn't something that he would put past her parents to do, surely that couldn't be the only reason that she was here. And considering that she had definitely noticed him, he knew she had to be around here somewhere. Or was this some elaborate form of break up that he was thus far unfamiliar with?

Reaching the end of the corridor, Pyrus found himself in one of the exterior hallways that ran along the edge of the temple. Before him, a series of tall arches stretched down to either side, a sudden chill blowing in from the overcast skies. And there she was, leaning against one of the railings and gazing out over the city, her claws drumming impatiently against the marble. To Pyrus, she was a beautiful as ever, her soft features full of quiet contemplation and reflection. Accompanied with her incessant tapping was the constant jingle of the jewelry worn around her ankles, another signal of her supposedly impeccable status among the city's elite. It was something that Pyrus wished she would leave off more often, as the only piece that he actually thought looked good on her was the silver sapphire necklace she was never seen without. But despite all of that, she was still a very pretty dragoness, with a personality that couldn't be more disagreeable.

Turning around, she noticed him, her face quickly twisting into a scowl, her usual greeting card. "About time. I was starting to think that I wasn't obvious enough to break through your thick skull."

"Nice to see you too." Pyrus replied nonchalantly, placing his forepaws up on the railing beside her. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Crystal huffed, not bothering to dignifying him with a response. Looking back out to the city, Pyrus watched several columns of smoke slowly rise up from the multitude of chimneys below. He was highly tempted to do, well, something semi-romantic such as wrapping one of his wings around her to help keep both of them warm. But at the same time, he was not quite sure where he stood on his relationship with the ice dragoness. He certainly didn't want another legal battle with the Develias, he very much doubted that he would escape unscathed. So in the end, he decided to settle for talking things out. "So, I guess you must have been quite busy, seeing as it's been a whole month since you decided to pay a visit to little old me here at the temple."

"Oh, now don't you dare criticize me for that." Crystal began, already gearing up for another argument. "First of all, it's not my fault. Second, I should be asking you the same thing. You know full well where my house is, and I'm practically the only one that goes for walks out in the garden these days. If you were really dying to see me, you would have flow there yourself."

Reaching behind him as he swung his tail forward, Pyrus lightly patted the severed stump of where the rest of the tail used to be, sending several twitches of lingering pain shooting down his spine. "Can't. As it turns out, losing half of the appendage you use as a rudder in midair is something you can't quite compensate for. I'm lucky if I can get more than five seconds of stable flight in a straight line. And since you live in a gated community, I'm sure you can work out the rest of it for yourself."

Crystal opened her mouth, and stopped, her eyes darting towards Pyrus' injured tail and back to face, trying to discern the truth behind his words. When she did speak again, her voice was back down to normal speaking levels, and she seemed almost regretful of her previous statement. "Really? I... I know it was a pretty serious injury, but I guess I thought it was mostly cosmetic. Once your chest healed over, I was expecting you to be hounding me nonstop just like you were before. So you really can't fly?"

"Tell you what, how about we chop off the end of your tail and we see how well you fair." Pyrus shot back. It had come out more jaded than he had meant it to, but he didn't really care. The joke that Connan had made earlier still sat with him, and he didn't much care to discuss the subject for much longer. "Just drop it already, alright?"

Crystal shrunk back, for once not offering any sort of confrontation. "Okay, fine, it's just that..." Crystal hesitated, mentally debating what she was about to say next. "I'm really sorry about that Pyrus. You can be quite uncouth and an idiot, but you didn't deserve any of this."

Pyrus shrugged, pointedly keeping his gaze focused away from the dragoness. "You never quite explained what your excuses were for the long absence anyways." He said, quickly changing the topic.

Crystal watched him silently for another few moments before turning back to the city herself. "Mother, what else did you expect?" She sighed, some of her usual briskness returning once again. "As it turns out, disobeying her wishes, going to the temple while it's under attack, and almost getting yourself killed are all highly frowned upon. This is the first opportunity I've had to get out of the house since the gala, and it's only because I'm going to apologize to Spyro. So I guess it's just the fault of the things that are out of our control in the end."

Pyrus closed his eyes and forced himself to take a deep breath. She was right, it wasn't Crystal's fault that she hadn't made any inquires after him, not with the ever charming Mrs. Develia watching her like a hawk. And she certainly couldn't have known about his tail ahead of time, so she hadn't deliberately been trying to get a rise out of him. Perhaps most importantly, they were holding an actual civil conversation, a rare occurrence that he shouldn't be so quick to spoil with his foul temper. "Listen, I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. I know it's what we usually tend to do all the time, but that was uncalled for. It's just been a while without hearing anything, and seeing as you are my first real girlfriend..."

"Hold up." Crystal interrupted, fixing him with a hard stare as her wings shifted on top of her back. "What in the world makes you think that we are a couple here?"

Pyrus blinked, his mouth hanging open in shock. "Ummmm, because last time we saw each other, we kissed? I don't know about you, but in my book, that means it's a pretty serious relationship."

"Oh, so just because you kissed me, it means that I fall head over heels in love with you?" Crystal asked indignantly, pushing off from the railing to face Pyrus with all four feet on the ground.

"But you kissed back!" Pyrus spluttered, also leaving his position at the railing. This is exactly what he had been worried about, and it made him extremely glad he hadn't tried to embrace Crystal earlier. But above all, he was experiencing the peculiar feeling that a morsel of food had been snatched from in between his jaws at the last possible moment. When compared to all of his previous romantic forays, this one had gone the furthest, which wasn't quite the crowing achievement now that he thought about it. "I mean, if you had just slapped me and left it at that, I would have left you alone from then on. But instead, here we are, with you telling me that meant absolutely nothing?"

Crystal fidgeted nervously, her once impervious demeanor now showing one of it's rare cracks. "Alright, it may have been a small thank you for saving my life a few days prior. And I may have had a few sips of wine that night as well."

"Drunk actions are sober thoughts." Pyrus countered. Despite the unpleasant revelation, he still held onto a small branch of hope. Crystal didn't strike him as the overly sentimental type, and he did suppose it would be a bit too large of a leap for her to make right off the bat. And, she was simply dodging the issue, as opposed to taking a more direct confrontation such as slapping him again. "And besides, even if you did, there was no way that you were drunk enough to throw all of your inhibitions to the wind like that. Just admit that you liked it already, I know I certainly did."

Crystal snorted skeptically, turning her back to him as she took a few steps down the corridor. "Spare me the cursed chauvinistic speeches, you're just like everyone else. Dragonesses owe you this, or dragonesses owe you that, or you end up whining all day about them only ever seeing you as a friend. I mean, how much of a self-centered, egotistical, ignoble-"

"Friends." Pyrus spoke up, drowning out Crystal before she could gather too much steam. He held out a paw, palm facing up, a last ditch attempt to steer the conversation away from another full blown argument. "Can you at least bear to say that we're friends Crystal?"

The ice dragoness turned back around, regarding him for a long period of silence. Ignoring the offered paw, she walked back over to the railing, resuming the position she had been occupying when he had first arrived. Sparing him another glance over her shoulder, Crystal finally sighed and gave a single nod. "Friends."

"Friends; _who may have kissed once or twice_."

"Pyrus!" 

"Alright already. Just friends." Pyrus sighed, joining Crystal back over at the railing. "Whatever makes you happy I guess. Glad we could finally get that settled."

They stood there for another full minute of silence, each of them pretending to be fully engaged by the cityscape below. After biting the inside of her cheek and sneaking glances towards Pyrus for the better part of the last thirty seconds, Crystal finally cleared her throat. "So, uh, Pyrus, there has been something else that's been on my mind lately, and I suppose you're the only one I can really talk to about it. Since, well, you already know what my family can be like."

"Sure, that's what friends are for after all." Pyrus replied, trying his best to ignore the serious blow his confidence had taken over the past few minutes. "What's up?"

Crystal didn't immediately reply, instead choosing to stare up into the featureless cloud sea floating far above their heads. "You've been in quite a few dangerous situations since moving up to the temple, right? With Spyro, and the rest of the incoherent rabble you hang out with."

"I'm going to choose to ignore that slight about my friends for the time being and just respond with yes." Pyrus gritted his teeth, narrowly keeping his temper in check. He did genuinely like Crystal, but it was never long until he was reminded why he was her only friend.

"So, then tell me," Crystal took a deep breath. "When you blunder into those situations, what sort of thoughts go through your mind?"

"I think I know where this is going." Pyrus gave a roguish grin. "This has to do with the temple attack, doesn't it? What happened, were you filled with soul-crushing regret over not confessing your feelings for me when that ape was barreling toward you, sword ready to cleave you in two?"

Crystal let out a low growl. "For just once in your mangy, flea-bitten life, could you stop lusting after dragonesses and answer the question?"

Pyrus chuckled, and shook his head. Whether or not she would admit it, the fact that she had kissed him had granted him a new way to deflect her insults. Sure, he could be mangy and flea-bitten, but she had still fallen for him anyway, so what exactly did that make her? Pushing those thoughts from his mind, Pyrus focused in on the question itself. "What do I feel? Hmmmm, to be perfectly honest I can't afford to pay that much attention to what I feel at the time. Mostly I'm just really concentrating on the actions of all the combatants, myself included. You know, to make sure I don't die and all. There's not a whole lot of room to consider anything else."

"But, to answer your question, there are a few emotions I can often recall. Loss, as I watch dragons and allies fall around me. Triumph, for being the guy that's still standing at the end of it." Pyrus sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes. "And as much as I would love to tell you differently, there's fear there. I have to push it to the back of my mind so that I can still walk and fight, but it's always lingering, waiting for me to make a fatal mistake."

"I can certainly appreciate the first one you mentioned." Crystal nodded pensively. "I had no idea what I was getting into when I headed up to the temple. That there were actually dragons and moles that- that died. And I guess I'm nowhere near as good at handling fear as you are, considering that I had to be rescued by you of all dragons. But, there was something else I felt too."

Pyrus said nothing, knowing that now was not the time for another allusion to the kiss. He also had no intention of pressing Crystal for what came next either, as that would only result in another barrage of insults and shouting. Slowly, as if she was trying to find the right words, Crystal continued. "I remember it took me awhile to figure out what it was. I just laid there in my room, staring at the ceiling, running it over and over again in my mind. But, I did eventually come to a conclusion. It was regret."

As if realizing what she had just divulged, Crystal's head whirled around to give Pyrus a venomous stare. "And if you so much as think that it had anything whatsoever to do with you, I'll-"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down." Pyrus cautioned, holding up a paw as if to shield himself. "I wasn't, okay? I was joking before when I said that never saying 'I love you' was something that you regretted. But this is a serious topic now, so believe me when I say I'm much more interested in what you actually regretted. I'd like to know."

Crystal backed off, but a wary expression remained on her face. Not quite able to make eye contact with him, she instead looked up into the rolling clouds above once more. When she spoke again, it was with the same brisk, affronted tone that she was most well known for. "You want to know? Fine, I'll tell you. When Malefor was defeated, I was pretty content with my life. Heir to one of the largest fortunes in the city, with two parents that simply adored me, and not a care or responsibility in the world. And then I met **you**."

"I could tell that's what you were working up to." Pyrus quipped. "The thinly veiled malice in your voice tipped me off."

Crystal huffed irritably. "Of course I was, seeing as the whole world obviously revolves around you. You're living a lifestyle that's the exact opposite of mine. You're vulgar, rude, spend most of your day rolling around in the dirt, and barley have a single cent to your name. And yet, if you asked some random citizen off the street about both of us, you're the one that they would actually recognize. The one that they would actually care about if something went wrong. You may not be as renowned as Spyro or Cynder, but you've made quite an impact on the city. And I'm just over here watching the world drift by without me."

A large gust of wind whistled through the corridor, causing a chill to rush up Pyrus' spine. They both listened to the air currents tumbling over each other and howling through the building, accumulating up to a fierce crescendo. As the winds calmed once again, Pyrus found his voice. "So if I'm following this correctly, you were regretful that the only thing you had going for you is that you will one day inherit your family's fortune, right?"

Crystal sighed, resting her head down on top of her paws. "I don't know. Say what you will about my parents, but at least they had to earn all of this wealth. But it's not like I had any say in the matter so far."

Pyrus frowned, a new idea bouncing around in his mind. It was crazy, but if it worked... "So, have you ever maybe considered, well, moving out of your parent's household?" 

Crystal's tail twitched, and Pyrus saw her eyes slowly rotate towards him. Well aware that he had to really sell this idea, Pyrus rolled with the first thing that next came to mind. "I mean, why not come up here to the temple? You could train on your element, look for ways to do...something else with your life, and maybe even make a few new friends. Everyone up here is nice, and once you stop being so aggressively hostile to everyone that you meet, I'm sure you'll fit in just fine."

Crystal gently dropped her forepaws off the railing, her stare still boring into Pyrus. "So, let me get this idea of yours straight. You want me to disown my only family just so I can come up here and play tag with you and your friends?" A full blown snarl escaped from Crystal's normally well composed features. "Why that is the most selfish, the most irresponsible, the most positively vile suggestion I have ever had the misfortune of hearing? What in the world in wrong with you!?"

Crystal was beyond furious, her voice once again rising to shouting levels as Pyrus winced and cowered away. "Is this what you wanted, you creep? Just because you don't have a family, it means that I can't either. To think that I actually thought there was a speck of decency in you!"

"You're taking this too far out of context." Pyrus cut in, attempting a feeble defense of his actions. "I didn't say disown your family, I meant-"

"You meant what exactly?" Crystal pressed. "Because I don't know if you've noticed, but this building just so happens to double as the city's orphanage. How else do you think I would get let in here?"

"You said that you wanted to be something other than the heir to the Develia estate." Pyrus pointed out, desperately searching for a new leg to stand on. "You're not going to manage that unless you get out there, meet someone new, learn some new craft or skill. And besides, you said that she locked you in the house for a month, doesn't that seem a tad extreme to you?"

Crystal shook her head, slowly backing away from Pyrus. "She did that because she was worried about me. She didn't know what to do when I went off that night." Crystal paused, giving Pyrus one last despicable glare. "Just because my parents hate you, doesn't mean they hate me. Goodbye Pyrus."

Turning, Crystal stalked off, tail sweeping side to side behind her. After a moment of mentally cursing at himself, Pyrus took off after her. "Crystal, wait. Please, let's just talk this out."

Ignoring him, Crystal made to turn down one of the corridor's leading deeper into the temple. But just as she was about to round the corner, a hulking earth dragon emerged, nearly knocking the fuming ice dragoness aside. This, as Pyrus already expected, did not go over well. "Hey, watch it!" Crystal snapped, glaring up at the much larger lime green dragon. "Can't you see I'm in a hurry here? Move out of the way, chubby."

Bewildered, the earth dragon could so much as blink in surprised, Crystal heaved an aggravated sigh. "Forget it. I don't have the patience to deal with a second dragon with the brain the size of walnut." Altering her course, Crystal made her way back towards the arches, muttering under her breath the whole way.

"Crystal, please..." But she was already gone, having already leaped from the railing and dropping from sight. Coming up the railing, Pyrus scanned the area down below, where he could just pick out Crystal's snowy white wings gliding back down into the city. Groaning, Pyrus rubbed his temples, desperately wishing the past few minutes hadn't happened. How could he ever think that was a good idea, suggesting something like that? Yet another screw up, just what he needed.

Remembering that he wasn't alone, Pyrus let out a forced laugh. "Girlfriend trouble, what else can I say?" Looking behind him, Pyrus saw that the earth dragon had already left, vanishing back into the maze of the temple. Allowing the smile to fade from his face, Pyrus hung his head. Just when things were starting to work out, he had to go and mess things up.

"Well," Pyrus spoke aloud, addressing no one in particular. "At least one thing's for sure. It's not like today can get any worse."

_/*\\_

The last few rays of sunlight beamed down on the city, the clouds having relented enough to grant the citizens one last bit of warmth before the night set in. At the southern end of the city, a few isolated groups of shoppers meandered around the merchant stalls, looking for any last minute deals. The Warfang market normally the very heart of the city, full at all hours with patrons performing their daily shopping trips. Brightly colored fabrics hung from nearly every building, and even as winter set in, there were enough merchant caravans to pack every street and square of the district. If it could be bought, odds were that you would find it somewhere in the bazaar.

But there was always two sides to any story, and the market place was no exception. For while the market was everything vibrant and exciting, the district just to the east was a far different story. Gone were the stalls, gone were the host of colorful customers, and gone was laughter and the unbridled joy of the hatchlings running amok looking for sweets. In stark contrast to the rest of the city, the usual division of narrow houses and shops was replaced with imposing warehouses that stretched entire city blocks. These warehouses served a number of different purposes, such as storing the wagons and sensitive goods of a merchant while they waited for the market to reopen. Another set of buildings was owned by the city, and were responsible for distributing food and supplies to the temple and guard barracks. There was even a set of well maintained buildings staffed at all hours by ice dragons, ensuring constant refrigeration.

While nothing like the market it supplied, the warehouse district was nonetheless a happily functioning part of the city still trying to fully rebuild from the damage inflicted during the siege. In particular, there was one set of building hugging the eastern wall that still showed the scorch marks from the battle. The owner had either been killed or driven off a long time, and as such the property had been put up for purchase by the city. But it wasn't exactly prime property, both by location and the ramshackle repairs that had barely kept the buildings together. Maybe in the summer, someone would find a use for it. But until then, the property sat in its neglected state, hoping for someone desperate enough to purchase it for the winter.

It was along these very buildings that a single dragon trundled down, the wan beams of sunlight insufficient to ward off the almost constant chill. Bowing his head low, the lime green dragon pressed on, his claws lightly tapping against the cobblestones. Just in front of him, one of the vacant warehouses drew closer, the sign in front now proudly declaring the word SOLD for the whole world to see. Stopping at one of the doors, the dragon knocked, the sound echoing down the empty street. After a short pause, a slat in the top of the door slid open, allowing the earth dragon a brief moment of eye contact with the occupant within. The slat slammed shut, and with the rattle of lock being undone, the door swung open to admit him.

The earth dragon gazed around at the cavernous room, taking in the sight. The warehouse was populated with a dozen or so other dragons, most of them talking among themselves and huddling close to protect against the ever present cold. The building creaked and swayed, and tiny arrows of ice pelted through the gaps in the wood, reminding the occupants of their dismal situation. Towards the back were two merchant carts, their contents spilled out haphazardly across the floor. Spotting his goal, the earth dragon picked his way around the groups of dragons before coming to a halt.

"No no no, set it up over there. She was very specific about this, and I don't want any more mistakes." Harmon called out, directing the trio of other dragons attempting to pull a twisted metal structure out of the back of a wagon. Clutched close to his chest was a smooth wood plank, with a single sheet of parchment held on by a flimsy metal clip. Sensing someone behind him, Harmon turned, revealing the set of still red claw marks that ran down his right cheek. Noticing the silent earth dragon, Harmon gave a curt nod, and resumed his directing. The earth dragon sat, patiently awaiting his next directive.

He didn't have long to idle. After passing the clipboard off to a subordinate, Harmon motioned to the earth dragon to follow him. In single file, they made their way up the set of stairs hanging out from one of the walls. The stairs lead upwards, terminating in to an office that was originally meant for accounting. With each stair giving a reproachful creak at every step, the two dragons finally leveled out onto a walkway, where there was only a short distance to the office door. Resting his paw on the knob, Harmon took a steadying breath and entered, the earth dragon following right behind.

The office was pleasant enough, if a little dusty. A decrypted desk sat propped up against one of the far walls, the surface heavily marked from many years of use. In one corner, there was a small pile of cushions, as well as a rather hefty looking blanket. Directly opposite the door were a set of grimy windows, overlooking the street that the earth dragon had been traversing minutes before. It was before these windows that Sidelis stood, a single claw lazily tracing a pattern against the cloudy glass. Harmon cleared his throat. "Disciple Sidelis, there's-"

Sidelis' paw shot out, silencing Harmon mid sentence. Realizing the mood that she was in, the two dragons backed away a respectful distance, neither of them daring to make a sound. After several minutes of profound silence, Sidelis spoke, her voice very careful and measured. "Across the street and two buildings down, there is a shadow dragon. I've been watching him. He arrives one hour after dawn everyday, leaves for a half hour again at noon, and finally leaves again at sundown. Every single day, almost like clockwork."

Harmon and the earth dragon exchanged knowing glances, even while Sidelis continued on. "And every single time I see he waltz out of that warehouse, free, without a care in the world, I get this... itch. Like I should _do_ something about it." Harmon and the earth dragon shared another glance, each one wanting to say something, but neither of them daring to contradict their leader.

Luckily, Sidelis saved them the trouble altogether. "But of course, I don't dare do that." She said, suddenly chipper. Turning away from the window, the young adult dragoness appealed to her captive audience. "Because we're not the type of dragons that do that, are we. No, we are upstanding citizens, we have only the very best intentions at heart. We are all friends, looking out for the welfare of the city."

"But still," Sidelis turned back to the window, her tone shifting back into melancholy. "I can't scratch that itch quite just yet. So I just sit here. Watching. Waiting."

Sidelis was silent for another minute before slowly looking up towards the two waiting dragons. Snapping her claws, she pointed at the earth dragon. "You. Brent. Do you have something to report?"

"I do, Disciple." Brent bowed his head, stepping forward to occupy the center of the room. "I have finished my assessment of the dragon temple like you ordered. The location is remarkably unguarded, with only a handful of mole attendants to oversee the crowds. The structure is also almost completely open, with the Guardian's quarters, private dorms, and training hall all under tight lock and key. However, we could easily gain access to the dining hall with only a small fee paid per dragon."

Sidelis nodded, the dragoness beginning to pace back and forth along the windows as she listened to Brent's report. "Like you suggested, I did managed to observe the Purple Dragon, the Terror of the Skies, and the other students while there. Realistically, they and the Guardian's themselves pose the only real threat, but any sort of attack is going to draw up reinforcements from all over the city. While it would be difficult to access for any other species, we would have no trouble due to our wings."

"And were you seen?" Sidelis whipped around, taking several menacing steps toward the stoic earth dragon. "Did anyone stop you, ask you for names, where you came from, why you were there?"

"No, Disciple Sidelis." Brent replied. "I had contact with only one dragon while I was there, and it was only just a small child. But do not concern yourself, as she was highly preoccupied with a fight with her significant other, and is unlikely to recall any aspect of my presence there."

Sidelis gave a light laugh, closing the remaining distance to give the larger earth dragon a sturdy pat on the back. Craning her neck around the Brent's body, Sidelis nodded at Harmon. "See Harmon, this is what a good solider acts like. He follows orders, evaluates threats to the mission, and gives a complete report. And, he was able to dismiss the only other dragon to see him not on the grounds of being just a child, but instead through the fact that she was already heavily distracted."

"Now leave." Sidelis commanded, taking a step back and pointing toward the door. "Get some food, water, and a full night's rest. I'll have new orders in the morning." Bowing his head once again, Brent turned and departed, ducking through the door and closing it behind him with a flick of the tail.

Returning to gaze out of the window once more, Sidelis addressed Harmon. "Tell me, what is our current status? How soon can we make a move?"

Harmon made sure to take a moment before answering, taking extra care to make sure his response lacked any provocative comments like the one that had earned him his latest scar. "With Brent's report on the dragon temple, I would say we now know almost everything we can about the city. Compiling a rotation of the guards is going to take some time, but we have a basic idea at this point. Most of the machines are up and running in the warehouse next door, and we are currently surviving as far as food goes. If we don't get additional income, I imagine we'll have to start hunting outside the walls."

Sidelis said nothing, and Harmon quickly pressed on. "The new recruits are eager as well, and based on the production we had today, I would say that there's no reason why we couldn't begin step one tomorrow."

Sidelis slowly twisted her neck to look at Harmon, her face completely expressionless. Realizing his error, Harmon hastily backtracked. "I meant tonight. Everything is all set to go, and I'm sure there's still plenty of citizens doing some last minute shopping. Of course we can start tonight."

"Then get to it." Sidelis spoke softly, her voice carrying the barest of threats. Nodding repeatedly, Harmon backed out of the room, the stairs audibly echoing as he rushed back down them. Ignoring the muffled noises of shouting and activity coming from down below, Sidelis resumed watching the building down on the end of the block. As she watched, the door slowly swung open, the midnight black scales of the shadow dragon easily blending into the shade cast by the innumerable clouds. She watched him back his way back up the street away from her, never once turning to see her spying on him through the window.

At long last, the shadow dragon turned the corner and dropped from Sidelis' sight line, allowing the fire dragoness to relax the tension that had been building up in her lean muscles. Looking around the droll office, Sidelis reached out and patted the stone windowsill. "Oh, what a wretched city." She mused, running her claws along the flaking brick work. "But don't you worry," Sidelis consoled, as if the building was hanging on her every word. "We'll have you fixed up real soon."


End file.
